New regulation mandates eco-friendly bags and fines for illegal dumping, using packaging that cannot naturally decompose, and failing to provide waste separation facilities - report
BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Jakarta’s Legislative Council approved on Tuesday a sweeping regulation on waste management that would see fines of up to $5,100 in an effort to alleviate floods, reported the Jakarta Globe.
The Indonesian capital Jakarta is home to about 10 million people and is inundated every year when heavy rains are stopped up by waterways and floodgates clogged with garbage.
In January, floods paralysed the city, with many government offices and businesses forced to close because staff could not get to work.
“We want the public to be waste conscious, so that we can also reduce floods in Jakarta,” the newspaper quoted Unu Nurdin, the head of the Jakarta Sanitation Agency, as saying.
Under the new bylaw, Jakarta residents are only allowed to dispose garbage in designated sites between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., so as to facilitate waste management. They are also forbidden from burning waste, and littering in rivers, water channels, streets and public spaces.
According to the Jakarta Globe, public and social spaces that fail to provide waste separation facilities will incur fines of up to $500. Shopping centres must use environmentally-friendly shopping bags or face fines up to $2,550. Manufacturers that use packaging that cannot naturally decompose may face fines of up to $5,100.
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