Lotus on the Ciliwung River—MAT PECI

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JAKARTA (ANTARA) – Lotus flowers are known to grow only in muddy water. Despite this, the lotus, with its large petals and various colors, is particularly eye-catching when it blooms, towering above the water, unaffected by the turbid environment around it.

In addition to their stunning beauty, lotus flowers also provide many benefits to the surrounding environment. One of these is that they absorb pollutants from water, thereby helping to improve water quality.

The lotus metaphor is an apt metaphor for the MAT PECI community, which is also working to purify the surrounding water, especially the waters of the Ciliwung River.

The Ciliwung River stretches for nearly 120 kilometers, winding through Bogor District, Bogor City, Depok – all in West Java Province and Jakarta.

The beginning of MAT PECI

“MAT PECI” stands for “Masyarakat Peduli Ciliwung” (Ciliwung Care Community). The company was founded by Usman Firdaus, who was born, raised and lives in Jakarta.

Initially, Firdaus, who was born in 1968, volunteered to clean up garbage and waste from the river.

He said he used to swim in the river regularly, but after the 21st century he found he could no longer do so due to the deterioration of the water quality.

So in 2006, the Information Management graduate and a few of his friends volunteered to start cleaning up the garbage and waste from the river near his home in the MT Haryono area.

“There was flooding and garbage everywhere. First, we started cleaning the river in the MT Haryono stretch,” said Firdaus.

After completing the cleaning work in the MT Haryono stretch, they started cleaning other stretches of the river as well.

“Because it’s hard to explain it to someone if you don’t have an example of how it should be done,” he said.

He then began to think that the group needed an identity to carry out these activities. Therefore, the members of the group named themselves “MAT PECI”, which was also a tribute to the local wisdom of Badawi.

MAT PECI headquarters is located at Pancoran Jalan Inspeksi Ciliwung No.1, Jakarta.

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A waste disposal site near the base camp of Masyarakat Peduli Ciliwung (Ciliwung Care Community/MAT PECI) in Pancoran, Jakarta. (ANTARA/Cindy Frishanti)

expansion

Firdaus believes that to improve the condition of the river, one cannot focus on just one part but must improve it from upstream to downstream.

He said garbage was not the only problem plaguing the river. Encroachment by communities on the river and land conversion also contributed to the pollution.

“Land use has changed, for example, forests are being used to grow vegetable crops. Many forests that were once protected are now being converted into homes and villas,” he added.

Measures to protect rivers need to include changing people’s perceptions of the rivers themselves as well as changing people’s thoughts about rivers so that they see them as sources of life rather than places to dump their garbage.

Therefore, Firdaus established MAT PECI in 2009 as an organization and legal entity with a focused department.

The organization focuses on watershed protection, urban agriculture, waste solutions, rescue and disaster response, cultural preservation, education and community empowerment, law and advocacy, and information and communications.

MAT PECI also set up the “Sekolah Sungai Ciliwung” (Ciliwung River School) to educate people about nature, the surrounding environment and the watershed.

Firdaus stressed that people of all ages can participate in the Ciliwung River School, which offers courses that can be customized according to the requirements of participants.

The school is said to be helping Jakarta’s Environmental Services Department educate employees on how to clean and maintain the river.

The schools are located in three places, namely MT Haryono, Srengseng Sawah and Lenteng Agung in Jakarta.

MAT PECI also conducts eco-educational tourism activities on the Ciliwung River in Jakarta from the Srengseng Sawah section to the MT Haryono section.

The money earned from eco-educational tourism activities will go towards the organization’s operating costs.

Funding also comes from membership of organizations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. However, CSR support is usually provided in the form of infrastructure and equipment.

“We can use the infrastructure and equipment to generate revenue to cover the operational costs,” Firdaus said.

The organization has about 150 members, excluding volunteers, most of whom are college students.

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A wooden board donated by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) to the Ciliwung Care Community (MAT PECI) in Pancoran, Jakarta. (ANTARA/Cindy Frishanti)

Hope for the future

Since 2014, the government has been working to restore the water level of the 33-kilometer-long Ciliwung River in the Jakarta area to normal.

At present, 16 kilometers of the project have been completed, and the remaining 17 kilometers are in the process of land acquisition.

When asked what MAT PECI expects from the government, the organization’s secretary Maulana Basid said it hopes the government will come up with a sustainable plan for the normalization of the Giliong River.

Brazile points out that often when leaders change, projects change as well.

He expressed hope that the government would formulate short-term, medium-term and long-term plans to improve the condition of the Giliong River.

He also said he was happy to see the younger generation starting to care about the cleanliness of the river.

He added that his organization cannot improve the river alone; instead, the task requires the participation of everyone, including the public, communities, companies and the government. This also applies to rivers in other provinces.

Rivers are the main source of water for people, and everyone from upstream to downstream needs to work together to protect them.

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