Deputy Minister of Public Works Hermanto Dardak said that 73 percent of 53 rivers in Indonesia are polluted. "Most of the pollution is caused by organic materials and 11 rivers contain aluminum," he said on Monday, June 16, 2014.
Most of the rivers are located in major cities. Ciliwung and Citarum Rivers, for example, are those that are polluted by human and industrial waste. Hermanto said that it is sad to see how people ignore water hygiene by dumping garbage in rivers.
He said hat river pollution is also triggered by sedimentation of the rivers' upstream, which is caused by construction works.
Hermanto said that every region must implement regulations that instructs local government to provide at least 30 percent of green open space out of the region's total area.
