Jeis Montesori & Nur Yasmin, Jakarta – About 8,000 people, including representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, regional governments and residents of 33 subdistricts of West Java and Jakarta, will participate in a simultaneous cleanup action of the Ciliwung River on Sunday.
The event is held to coincide with the commemoration of World Environment Day.
Cleanup actions will take place in 36 locations along the 119-kilometer-long river, which originates in Bogor district, West Java, and flows into Jakarta Bay.
"The Ciliwung cleanup action is expected to simultaneously break the Indonesian records for the largest number of participants and longest section of river being cleaned. Therefore, we invite all parties to join to improve the water quality of the Ciliwung River," M.R. Karliansyah, the environment and forestry ministry's director general of pollution and environmental degradation control, said on Friday.
He said the primary aims were to improve water quality in the heavily polluted river, conduct environmental awareness campaigns and educate residents on the need to manage and protect ecosystems in the Ciliwung watershed.
Karliansyah added that the event would also serve as an opportunity to develop partnerships between the government, communities and companies to protect and manage the Ciliwung watershed.
Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar will open the event and lead the cleanup action and planting of bamboo trees. West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil will also be present and deliver a speech during the opening ceremony.
The Ciliwung is one of Indonesia's strategic rivers and an icon of Jakarta. It has 13 tributaries, which greatly affect water quality, which has yet to reach an acceptable level prescribed in a 2001 government regulation.