Sukoharjo, Ekuatorial – As a result of careless waste disposal to Samin river of Sukoharjo, Solo, wells of Dukuh Pondok have been polluted leaving residents with dirty water and unfit for consumption, said an official, in Sukoharjo, on Tuesday (11/11).
Suradji, head of Sukoharjo Environmental Agency, said that they have tested samples of Samin river which resulted that it had been contaminated by ciu [local fermented drink] waste for almost 100 percent. It is suspected that ciu makers, mostly home industries, throw its waste in heavy amount and continuously into the river. As a result, people’s wells located not far from the river have been contaminated.
“Contaminated wells have brown-ish color and smell very bad,” said Suradji adding that it was categorized as unfit for consumption.
Furthermore, Suradji said that the village had installed water waste management, known locally as IPAL, but it was not longer working. He said that the agency has been trying to establish IPAL communal but failed because of land cover. To built IPAL communal will need at least 1,000 square meter of lands, meanwhile, they can only provide 600 square meter of lands.
“We have proposed the budget [for IPAL communal] but we have problems with the lands. As we have reached deadline, we need to cancel the plan at the moment. I am still approaching people to find lands to built this IPAL so that we can minimize its pollution,” he said.
Meanwhile Suryono, Dukuh Bakalan villager, said that they have reported to village administration and district government over ciu waste to the river. Even though, they have given pictures as proof that they have deliberately polluted the river with ciu waste, their protests were ignored.
Suryono said that those wastes were thrown in the middle of the night where people have already gone home. “They did not throw it every night. But, they always do it in the middle of the night where there’s no one around. They would loaded the waste in huge container in open trucks. They just throw it [into the river],” he said adding no villagers dare to stop the truck for undisclosed reason. Bramantyo.