You’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t buy cold drinks from street vendors in Jakarta because often the ice they use comes from unsanitary water. Well now we have to be even more cautious about finding our refreshing beverages because it turns out that even the drinks themselves might be made from disgustingly unclean sources.
Yesterday afternoon, Jakarta’s Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) arrested a National Monument (Monas) street vendor, identified as S, who they suspected had been using sewage water that runs through Gambir train station to make the iced tea that he sells to the public.
“The officers didn’t actually see him (S) collecting water from said sewage, but we strongly suspect that he used water from the sewage to make tea, because the water that comes out of the sewage there is actually clear,” said Central Jakarta Satpol PP Chief Iyan Sopiyan Hadi, as quoted by Warta Kota yesterday.
As further proof, the Satpol PP officers also found plastic cups belonging to S under the sewage pipes.
S is now awaiting charges as he’s being interrogated at the Gambir precinct.
There are of course plenty of horror stories regarding food hygiene in Jakarta and Indonesia. But the sad reality is, many vendors will always take the cheaper, less sanitary options when producing their food or beverage in order to increase their tiny margins. One of the few ways you can feel confident in eating street food is by choosing vendors that have already received safety certifications from the government – but unfortunately the number of vendors with said certification remains relatively tiny.
