The city of Jakarta sits what is essentially flat land, with no hills and mountains at all – unless you count the massive trash mounds that pile up in some areas of the city.
One such trash mound had been sitting by on the banks of the Cipinang river in East Jakarta for the past 30 years. The government finally began work on excavating the trash mound over the weekend.
So why did it take all those years to get rid of trash that could be harmful to the lives of the people in the neighborhood? Even Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was at a loss for words.
“Yes, it was embarrassing. I ordered [the trash mound to be removed] since the days of Rudy (former Public Works Agency Head Rudy Siahaan), and then to Agus (former Water Management Agency Head Agus Priyono), and then to Tri Djoko (Water Management Agency Head Tri Djoko Sri Margianto). They didn’t know how to solve the problem,” Ahok said yesterday, as quoted by Kompas.
Ahok said he eventually ordered East Jakarta Mayor Bambang Musyawardana to get rid of the trash mound, an order that wasn’t ignored this time.
The trash mound excavation began on Sunday. It’s not exactly known how much volume of trash had been sitting there for 30 years, but it’s predicted that it will take 7 days for excavators to get rid of all the trash.
It’s too late now, but maybe we should’ve contacted Guinness about a potential world record for biggest trash mound in the world before it was excavated.
