TEMPO.CO, Mataram - Waste issue at tourism spots is inevitable, such as in Tanjung Aan beach, Mandalika, Lombok. The beauty of the white-sand beach attracts a lot of domestic and international tourists to visit which resulted in the waste management issue.

This has led Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) organized a waste management training for the locals, including separating organic and non-organic wastes, as well as composting, recycling, and establishing a waste bank which will be managed by the locals.

Pesona Bau Nyale Festival 2019 was attended by thousands of locals and tourists at Seger beach, Mandalika, Lombok, NTB, on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019. ANTARA

The training was participated by 25 people from Tanjung Aan and its vicinity for three days from February 27 to March 1 at ITDC Mandalika office. After the training, the ITDC team and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Waste Bank will assist the participants in applying their knowledge they received from the training for 14 days until the Waste Bank is established.

ITDC director of finance and corporate strategy Nusantara Suyono said the training program is one of their efforts in shifting the paradigm of people in Mandalika tourism area, Lombok, about waste.

TNI International Marathon 2018 at the Mandalika, Kuta, Central Lombok, NTB, November 4, 2018. ANTARA FOTO/Ahmad Subaidi

“We hope the society can see that waste is no longer a worthless thing and is reusable,” he said Friday, March 1, adding that they can turn the waste into an economically valuable item. Besides, through the program, the people can contribute to reducing the waste ended at the landfill.

Research on Sustainable Waste Indonesia (SWI) shows that as much as 24 percent of waste in Indonesia is still not managed, seven percent of waste is recycled, and 69 percent piling in the landfill.

Supriyantho Khafid (Contributor)