TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan assumed that hard detergent mostly used in households is the main cause of overflowing foams in Sentiong River or known as the Black River a.k.a. Kali Item in North Jakarta. Thus, he planned to limit the usage on the cleanser in the capital city.

“I will talk to Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Trade for better regulation on detergent in Indonesia,” said Anies in Sunter, North Jakarta, Wednesday, January 2.

Anies explained that a policy on detergent would be a solution to preserve the environment from the upstream level. He opined that if Jakarta provincial administration does not strive to deal with issues on the downstream, the waste in the Black River will not be solved.

“If there is no regulation, we work only in the downstream area, in the waste management section,” he noted.

The condition of the Black River which is covered with thick foam similar to snow went viral on social media following a video footage posted by Instagram account @jktinfo.

Head of Jakarta Environmental Agency, Isnawa Adji, said that neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore had no longer use hard detergent, but the soft one.

Head of the environmental impact assessment unit at the agency, Andono Warih, mentioned that thefoam in Sentiong River is harmless as long as not consumed by humans. However, he asserted, it would affect the life of the biota on the river, including fish and plants.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH