Citarum's Hot Black Waste
THE joint-team formed by President Joko Widodo has not succeeded in stopping factories in West Java from dumping liquid waste into Citarum, the world's most toxic river. Tempo's team found hard evidence that factories have been openly disposing of untreated waste into the river. Furthermore, locals are also dumping household and human waste into Citarum, even while they use the water for other purposes. Convoluted bureaucracy has prevented an effective restoration of the Citarum River. Amid the failure, politicians seem to be riding the issue to improve their own electability. An Environmental Agency officer takes a sample of Gunajaya Abadi Sentosa liquid waste at Cikacembang River, Bandung, West Java.
April 30, 2018
THE pipe lies hidden beneath the water running through a paddy field trench in Jalan Nunisari, West Bandung regency, West Java. Black water courses through the seven-inch diameter pipe. Five minutes after exiting the pipe, the black water turns brown. Tempo's potential of hydrogen (pH) reading of the water three weeks ago showed a 9.3 pH and a temperature of 32.5 degrees Celsius.
High-alkaline water from the pipe merges with irrigation water befo
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