Riding water taxis to clean rivers
Friday, 17 August 2007
Richel Langit-Dursin
On weekends, groups of children and their parents crowd around South Jakarta's Halimun Pier waiting to take a joy ride on one of two water taxis, recently introduced by the administration.
There is no profit in operating the water taxis. For one round trip the local government receives around Rp 84,000 (nine US dollars) from fare collection, but spends about twice that amount on fuel.
The gains lie elsewhere. Unknown to many Jakarta residents, when the two water taxis were launched in June, they were meant to be part of an environmental campaign designed to raise awareness among the public on the need to keep the river systems clean.
"The purpose of the water taxis is to get Indonesians to stop their habit of throwing garbage into the rivers," said Muhammad Khair, officer on duty at Halimun Pier. "It is also intended to raise public awareness on the threats from polluted rivers."
Indonesia's rivers have become heavily polluted and increasingly shallow mainly because Indonesians like to build their houses along riverbanks and dump rubbish into the water. Jakarta has 13 rivers flowing through it and one of the most polluted, the Ciliwung River, is also the main source of water for residents.
"The operation of the water taxis is an entertaining way of educating the public on the importance of keeping the rivers clean," said Donny Azdan, director at the water resources and irrigation directorate of the National Development Planning Agency.
"We are facing an uphill battle cleaning our rivers as we need a huge amount of money," Azdan said, adding that people living on the riverbanks refuse to move out because the "new" places that are being offered to them by the government are far from their places of work.
Garbage of all types, including industrial effluents, find its way into the rivers and empty plastic bottles and cans can be seen floating around on the turbid waters of the Ciliwung. Most of the time, the motorboats' skippers have to rely on their intuition and experience to navigate through waters thick with trash.
Over the past weeks, the operation of the water taxis has not been without problems. There were instances when the craft had to be stopped because their engines got clogged with garbage.
The city administration has allocated Rp 30 billion (3.2 million dollars) to clean up and dredge Jakarta's rivers of which Rp 200 million (21,361 dollars) will go into the annual maintenance of the two water taxis, each capable of carrying 28 passengers.
Many see it as a losing battle because weak law enforcement allows the public to continue throwing garbage in waterways. So far, no one has been brought to court, imprisoned or fined for littering -- even though clogged rivers contribute to flooding, which hits the city in January and February annually.
Such is the pollution level in Jakarta's rivers that water companies are finding it difficult to provide residents with enough clean water. In Jakarta, about 70 percent of potential raw water from rain flows directly into the ocean since all the rivers in the city are shallow and have limited capacity to retain rainwater.
In fact, the low water levels in the Ciliwung are another impediment for the motorboats which cannot ply in water less than one metre deep. On the other hand if the river is more than two metres deep, the boats may bump into the underside of bridges.
"The water taxis are not specifically designed for rivers because they are too big," said 35-year-old skipper Andiri. Plans are underway to modify the motorboats which are minor tourist attractions.
"We learnt about the water taxis from the television and they look fascinating," said Lia, a 34-year-old housewife who lined up for more than an hour with her two children, a niece and nephew to join a Saturday afternoon trip.
Since the launch of the water taxis on Jun. 9, most of the passengers have been from among low-income parents giving their children an amusing 15-minute fun ride in a motorboat. A round trip costs Rp 3,000 (33 cents) per person.
"Riding the water taxi is like having fun in an amusement park," said 26-year-old Krisna, an employee at a restaurant who hopped aboard a couple of weekends ago with his two nieces and took pictures of city landmarks as they passed by.
As a safety measure, yellow inflatable life jackets are found under the seats of the water taxis. Laminated airline-style safety cards are also stuck on the back of every seat. The cards instruct passengers on how to put on the life jackets stored under the seats and how to blow the little whistles attached to the jackets to call for help.
The operation of the water taxis is one of the three water-related projects of the Jakarta administration designed to address the city's poor sanitation, annual flooding and traffic congestion.
The other projects are a 23-km flood mitigation canal and the multi-purpose deep tunnel which aim to integrate a sanitation facility, urban utility networks and an underground turnpike.
To improve the water taxi system, the public works ministry, which is currently subsidising the cost of gasoline for the two motorboats, is looking into the possibility of extending the routes to the Angke river.
Water taxis were originally meant to ease the capital's traffic woes. For many years now, the Jakarta administration has been implementing a traffic restriction policy, commonly known as 'three-in-one', to encourage people to join car pools or ride public transportation.
With their launch Jakarta's governor Sutiyoso hoped that the water taxis would become part of an integrated mass rapid transport system to solve the city's chronic traffic problems. During Dutch colonial rule Jakarta's rivers played an important role in city transportation.
But few Indonesians take the plan seriously. "I would rather take a bus than ride a water taxi," said student Efrid, 20. "If I ride a water taxi I will smell like a drain.''
............
Internet
On weekends, groups of children and their parents crowd around South Jakarta's Halimun Pier waiting to take a joy ride on one of two water taxis, recently introduced by the administration.
There is no profit in operating the water taxis. For one round trip the local government receives around Rp 84,000 (nine US dollars) from fare collection, but spends about twice that amount on fuel.
The gains lie elsewhere. Unknown to many Jakarta residents, when the two water taxis were launched in June, they were meant to be part of an environmental campaign designed to raise awareness among the public on the need to keep the river systems clean.
"The purpose of the water taxis is to get Indonesians to stop their habit of throwing garbage into the rivers," said Muhammad Khair, officer on duty at Halimun Pier. "It is also intended to raise public awareness on the threats from polluted rivers."
Indonesia's rivers have become heavily polluted and increasingly shallow mainly because Indonesians like to build their houses along riverbanks and dump rubbish into the water. Jakarta has 13 rivers flowing through it and one of the most polluted, the Ciliwung River, is also the main source of water for residents.
"The operation of the water taxis is an entertaining way of educating the public on the importance of keeping the rivers clean," said Donny Azdan, director at the water resources and irrigation directorate of the National Development Planning Agency.
"We are facing an uphill battle cleaning our rivers as we need a huge amount of money," Azdan said, adding that people living on the riverbanks refuse to move out because the "new" places that are being offered to them by the government are far from their places of work.
Garbage of all types, including industrial effluents, find its way into the rivers and empty plastic bottles and cans can be seen floating around on the turbid waters of the Ciliwung. Most of the time, the motorboats' skippers have to rely on their intuition and experience to navigate through waters thick with trash.
Over the past weeks, the operation of the water taxis has not been without problems. There were instances when the craft had to be stopped because their engines got clogged with garbage.
The city administration has allocated Rp 30 billion (3.2 million dollars) to clean up and dredge Jakarta's rivers of which Rp 200 million (21,361 dollars) will go into the annual maintenance of the two water taxis, each capable of carrying 28 passengers.
Many see it as a losing battle because weak law enforcement allows the public to continue throwing garbage in waterways. So far, no one has been brought to court, imprisoned or fined for littering -- even though clogged rivers contribute to flooding, which hits the city in January and February annually.
Such is the pollution level in Jakarta's rivers that water companies are finding it difficult to provide residents with enough clean water. In Jakarta, about 70 percent of potential raw water from rain flows directly into the ocean since all the rivers in the city are shallow and have limited capacity to retain rainwater.
In fact, the low water levels in the Ciliwung are another impediment for the motorboats which cannot ply in water less than one metre deep. On the other hand if the river is more than two metres deep, the boats may bump into the underside of bridges.
"The water taxis are not specifically designed for rivers because they are too big," said 35-year-old skipper Andiri. Plans are underway to modify the motorboats which are minor tourist attractions.
"We learnt about the water taxis from the television and they look fascinating," said Lia, a 34-year-old housewife who lined up for more than an hour with her two children, a niece and nephew to join a Saturday afternoon trip.
Since the launch of the water taxis on Jun. 9, most of the passengers have been from among low-income parents giving their children an amusing 15-minute fun ride in a motorboat. A round trip costs Rp 3,000 (33 cents) per person.
"Riding the water taxi is like having fun in an amusement park," said 26-year-old Krisna, an employee at a restaurant who hopped aboard a couple of weekends ago with his two nieces and took pictures of city landmarks as they passed by.
As a safety measure, yellow inflatable life jackets are found under the seats of the water taxis. Laminated airline-style safety cards are also stuck on the back of every seat. The cards instruct passengers on how to put on the life jackets stored under the seats and how to blow the little whistles attached to the jackets to call for help.
The operation of the water taxis is one of the three water-related projects of the Jakarta administration designed to address the city's poor sanitation, annual flooding and traffic congestion.
The other projects are a 23-km flood mitigation canal and the multi-purpose deep tunnel which aim to integrate a sanitation facility, urban utility networks and an underground turnpike.
To improve the water taxi system, the public works ministry, which is currently subsidising the cost of gasoline for the two motorboats, is looking into the possibility of extending the routes to the Angke river.
Water taxis were originally meant to ease the capital's traffic woes. For many years now, the Jakarta administration has been implementing a traffic restriction policy, commonly known as 'three-in-one', to encourage people to join car pools or ride public transportation.
With their launch Jakarta's governor Sutiyoso hoped that the water taxis would become part of an integrated mass rapid transport system to solve the city's chronic traffic problems. During Dutch colonial rule Jakarta's rivers played an important role in city transportation.
But few Indonesians take the plan seriously. "I would rather take a bus than ride a water taxi," said student Efrid, 20. "If I ride a water taxi I will smell like a drain.''
............
Internet