Usman Firdaus, Spreading Love for the Ciliwung
Usman Firdaus hopes that the activities he has been running for the last 17 years at the Ciliwung River can serve as a model of how to care for the environment in other regions.
Usman Firdaus
Face radiant as he relates his experience as an environmental activist, starting with cleaning the banks and tributaries of the Ciliwung River in Cikoko subdistrict, Pancoran district, South Jakarta, Usman is now empowering people as well as communities in several areas.
“The focus now is on community empowerment, because educating people is the most difficult task,” Usman Firdaus, 53, chairman of Komunitas Masyarakat Peduli Ciliwung (community of people who care for the Ciliwung), or Mat Peci for short, said on Tuesday (2’2’2023).
Raised in a kampung, a young Usman became concerned as he noticed the changes to the terraces of the settlement. The Ciliwung River, which had been pretty before, with children playing, swimming, and catching fish and shrimp, had become crowded by a dense population and was turning into a garbage dump, murky with sedimentation.
Inevitably, the frequency of flooding due to overflow, which had normally occurred once every five years, increased to two to three times each year.
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The information management graduate, along with his wife and childhood friends, began taking steps in 2006. They wanted to improve the condition of the Ciliwung River through concrete action so as to set an example for many people.
They frequently heard such remarks as, “Who are you, how dare you forbid me to dump waste in the river, is this river yours?’ and “If I don’t dump the waste here, what job are you doing, then?”
Their efforts were thwarted in various ways. They had to contend with social organizations, had physical altercations with residents, were accused of trying to claim the residents’ land, and were targeted by black magic.
Still, they went about their business and refused to give up on improving the increasingly ravaged Ciliwung River.
Who are you, how dare you forbid me to dump waste in the river, is this river yours?
Slowly but surely, the section of the Ciliwung River in Cikoko has again become attractive. Its banks are clean, with fruit trees and a hydroponic vegetable garden. Ten meters from the river is the center of Mat Peci’s activities.
The man with graying hair did not ease off in his activities. From Cikoko, they led to the birth of the Ciliwung River Education School in Srengseng, South Jakarta, at the end of 2016. The school was set up to educate the local residents, especially children, so they would grow to love and care for the river from an early age.
“The children are trained to manage waste, grow trees, raise hydroponic plants and other things. But it’s not easy, because the role of their parents is necessary so the children won’t simply lose their knowledge when they return home,” said the father of three.
Usman Firdaus
Empowering residents
The Ciliwung River Education School was later followed by an empowerment project for the residents living in the upstream area of the Ciliwung River in Cisarua, Bogor, West Java. From there, the activities descended to help residents on the coast.
“The focus then was not only on rivers, but also the environment. Now it empower people from Aceh to Papua,” said Usman, a former member of the Jakarta river boundary team for the 2016-2020 period.
Besides regularly sailing the Ciliwung, Usman is again traveling from upstream to downstream and to different regions since the Covid-19 public activity restrictions (PPKM) were lifted. Last week, for instance, he provided guidance to the residents of South Tugu village in Cisarua and of Megamendung, located at the “zero point” of the Ciliwung River at Telaga Saat Peak in Bogor.
He also served as a guide to 25 students from Jakarta State University who were finishing their final assignment on the Ciliwung River. The students were divided into five groups to sail the river in five zones: the Srengseng-Menteng, Menteng-Tanjung Barat, Tanjung Barat-Pasar Minggu, Pasar Minggu-Cikoko, and Cikoko-Manggarai.
“They were researching rivers and their potential. Last year, some adopted the concept of Ciliwung ecotourism and educational tourism,” said Usman.
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After 17 years of efforts concerning a variety of environmental issues, the recipient of the Jakarta Governor’s Environment Patron award (2012) realizes that taking care of a river cannot be done in just one place or one section of the river, but must span from the upstream to the downstream. Similarly, caring for the environment is inseparable from raising awareness among all stakeholders.
Community empowerment and environmental education are not enough on their own. It must take a pentahelix approach, or cooperation that involves five sides: the government, academics, business entities or businesspeople, residents or communities, and the mass media.
For example, Usman said, multiparty river maintenance could involve the government issuing a rule prohibiting waste dumping and enforcing it, though he added that such a measure was not yet effectively applied in the capital city.
Academics played a part by researching a river’s condition, potentials and related social issues. This research was useful for the government and the private sector to contribute solution to various river problems, such as dumping junk and waste.
These problems were also tackled through social programs that involved local residents, such as by supporting waste banks, conducting river cleanups activity and providing development funds.
Here, communities played an active role by inviting residents to get involved or empowering them. Communities could be at the forefront of leading the public in caring for the environment.
“Finally, the mass media act as a mouthpiece to make people aware of the environmental conditions and be heard by the public at large,” Usman stressed.
Mat Peci’s “guerrilla” activities to maintain the Ciliwung River is ongoing. Today, Mat Peci has a total of 150 activists, excluding volunteers, who are engaged in environmental activities from the upstream to the downstream.
Usman hopes that the activities he has been running for the last 17 years at the Ciliwung River can serve as a model of how to care for the environment in other regions. (Z08)
Usman Firdaus
Born: Jakarta, 4 November 1968.
Occupation: Chairman, Komunitas Masyarakat Peduli Ciliwung (2009-present).
Education: Bachelor in information management, Kuwera College of Information and Computer Management, Jakarta
Wife: Dina Brihandini
Awards:
- Gold Badge from the Forestry Minister, Wanalestari Greening and Nature Conservation Competition (2011).
- Environment Patron Award from the Jakarta Governor (2012).
- Protector of Water Managment Communities, from the Directorate General of Water Resources, Public Works and Housing Ministry (2013).
- Environment Protector Environmental Award, from the South Jakarta Mayor (2014).
- Jakarta Province Cadre, motivator of disaster awareness (2017)
- Social Enterprise Award for environmental empowerment, Trisakti University (2018)
- National award for river management community, Public Works and Housing Ministry (2018)
This article was translated by Aris Prawira.
