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.