I Gusti Rai Ari Temaja, Encouraging Communities to Clean Up Bindu River
By
Ayu Sulistyowati
·6 minutes read
KOMPAS/AYU SULISTYOWATI
I Gusti Rai Ari Temaja
For about eight years, I Gusti Rai Ari Temaja – or Gung Nik – encouraged and led residents to clean the Tukad (river) Bindu. Today, the Bindu River is free of garbage, and its water is used for irrigating the rice fields and the river is a recreational destination for urban families. As the environment head of Banjar Ujung in Kesiman, East Denpasar district of Denpasar, Bali, Gung Nik has urged residents to bring back the beauty of Tukad Bindu.
The clean river Bindu that flows through the middle of crowded Denpasar has inspired other urban residents outside Bali. Gung Nik was able to increase awareness of surrounding communities through the Tukad Bindu Foundation. The residents of four banjar (Balinese community units) joined hands to keep the natural environment clean. The 1.5-kilometer-long river flows through four banjar: Banjar Ujung, Banjar Abinangka Kaja, Banjar Abinangka Kelod and Banjar Dukuh.
According to Gung Nik, the challenge started in 2010 with the Denpasar municipal administration’s Clean River Program (Prokasih) campaign to clean up the dirty Tukad Bindu. "The [campaign] really made me aware," said Gung Nik, looking at several children swimming in the river.
Eight years ago, he was determined to clean up the dirty river so it would be like it was during his childhood. The residents need to treat the river as their backyard. "Once the people in the village realized that their yards should be beautiful, everything was easier," he said.
Tukad Bindu serves as a source of irrigation in the city’s suburbs. It has a sluice gate that is monitored by the “water gate officers” from the Denpasar River Office to maintain the water level. Back then, however, the river and its banks were full of garbage. Wild vegetation filled the banks and no one wanted to bathe or walk along the river Bindu.
Fellow environment heads from three other banjar welcomed Gung Nik\'s call. A spirit of mutual cooperation emerged to clean up the river.
However, not everything went smoothly. Almost all the riverbank plots were private property. "I did not force anyone to join. I am just trying to increase the people’s awareness to make the river clean and beautiful again. Waste free, flood free, disease free," he said.
Gung Nik often came across people throwing out or burning waste in their own yards. However, when Gung Nik offered to rent the villagers’ yards for disposing local residents\' garbage, the villagers refused. "What’s the difference? It’s a garbage dump. It should be turned into a public garbage dump," he said. After that, the villagers no longer threw out or burned their garbage in their yards, and turned them into beautiful gardens.
KOMPAS/AYU SULISTYOWATI
I Gusti Rai Ari Temaja
Gung Nik was relieved that the villagers realized the importance of cleaning the garbage in Bindu and surrounding areas. Gradually, awareness grew among other resident communities. Gung Nik doesn\'t want to fight; he wants all to embrace environmental awareness together.
For unity
The residents of the surrounding communities finally agreed to joing Gung Nik together in developing a clean environment. A number of residents came together to form the Tukad Bindu Volunteers. The volunteers come from different backgrounds to perform ngayah (unpaid mutual cooperation). It was the same with Gung Nik, who worked as an unpaid volunteer and spent part of his salary as a kelian banjar to clean up the Tukad Bindu. "It\'s all right because it’s for unity. After all, I still have another source of income, not just as kelian banjar," he said.
According to Gus Nik, cleaning up the river must begin with those living around it, and must not depend on the government alone. At first, only a few people worked together each week to help Gus Nik clean the river, cutting down wild shrubs and weeds and cleaning up garbage. They left a few trees that added to the natural beauty of the environment.
The Denpasar administration appreciated the Tukad Bindu Community, and Gung Nik and other residents’ success in developing the awareness of riverbank communities to clean up the river for about seven years. In 2017, the Tukad Bindu was officially designated as the flagship tourist attraction of Denpasar. The residents also provided community-run food stalls for free.
Innovation did not stop at turning Tukad Bindu into a tourist attraction. The volunteers continued to provide public education on environmental protection. They have held several workshops on the “new” river and its benefits.
Gus Nik also cooperated with several universities on using the riverbank to positive response, and turned the Bindu into an outdoor laboratory for agricultural studies and micro hydro power plants (PLTHM) for the Mahasaraswati University of Denpasar and the Bali State Polytechnic.
The Bali State Polytechnic uses the power of the Tukad Bindu for a micro hydro power plant that is currently capable of producing 7,500 watts, or equivalent to 7.5 kVA. The Tukad Bindu has also been equipped with a new and renewable energy (EBT) facility called the Indonesian Archipelago Energy Harmony Micro (HENI Mikro). The HENI Mikro wind generator has an installed capacity of 7.5 kVA, which exceeds the power need of the Tukad Bindu area.
It is not only the Denpasar administration that has appreciated the local development initiatives. The Public Works and Housing Ministry, the National Disaster Mitigation
Agency (BNPB) and other state institutions, as well as World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva have pointed to the Tukad Bindu initiative as an example of how a densely populated urban river can become a beautiful destination.
Gung Nik has been invited to a number of institutions, offices and universities to share his tips in motivating communities to respect the environment and maintain cleanliness. "Yes, I must share. The more generations [that are aware], the more the clean river campaign will spread, " he said.
I Gusti Rai Ari Temaja
Born: Denpasar, April 23, 1973
Wife: Luh Made Ernayani
Children:
I Gusti Suryabrata Satrya Cahaya Natha, I Gusti Mukti Subhukti Satrya Baghaskara Natha
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