The citizens of Central Jakarta may be proud that their part of the capital recently became one of the recipients of this year’s Adipura Kirana award, which is given annually by the Environment and Forestry Ministry to Indonesian cities with the best environment management. But Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama certainly is not.
In true Ahok fashion, the governor indicated that the city really didn’t deserve the award as there is still much work to be done there in terms of environment management.
“I’m embarrassed to win the Adipura as there is still litter and dirty streets in the city [of Central Jakarta],” Ahok said, as quoted by Merdeka yesterday.
“If I may say so, Senen is still incredibly filthy. [Especially] in those movie theaters that usually play Indian movies. I used to watch movies there too.”
For this reason, Ahok instructed Central Jakarta’s mayor, Mangara Pardede, not to hold a parade or go overboard in celebration of winning the award.
Mangara conceded that, while many of Central Jakarta’s busiest streets are relatively litter-free, there are still areas that could be a lot cleaner.
“What we (the Central Jakarta administration) are doing shouldn’t just be about chasing awards. It should be about how to make Jakarta better, reduce its floods, its litter,” he said.
The Adipura Kirana is given to seven cities each year. This year, Central Jakarta is sharing the award with Semarang, Palembang, Bandung, Makassar, Surabaya, and Tangerang. The awards were given out last Friday at a ceremony in the Siak Regency of Riau.
