Appreciation for the Servants of the Capital City’s Residents

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The Welcome Statue stands over as a laser show and performers mark Jakarta’s 492nd anniversary on Saturday (22/6/2019) at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta. Thousands of visitors flocked to the event to celebrate the birthday of the nation’s capital.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — At the age of 492, Jakarta remains strong the largest city in Indonesia. More than 10 million people live here, not to mention the millions of others who commute every day to make a living.Many people do not realize that before sunrise, cleaning service personnel sweep the roads. Public minivan drivers pick up passengers at the entry points of residential alleys to head to commuter train stations or Transjakarta bus stops.

At hospitals, and at the emergency unit of Puskesmas, health workers are on standby. The fire department is ready at any time to extinguish the next fire.

Those workers – young; male or female – are the "servants" of the capital city’s residents. They formed a system and giant network. They never fail to carry out their duties.

The cleaning officer is one part of the system with a large amount of power. Data from the data.jakarta.go.id page in 2017 show the number of personnel who are members of the Public Infrastructure and Facilities Unit (PPSU) in Jakarta was 3,968 people. They are spread across 267 subdistricts in Jakarta, including in the Thousand Islands.

Esa, 33, a PPSU officer from South Gandaria subdistrict said on Saturday (22/6/2019) afternoon that supervision and maintenance of one zone in a subdistrict was usually managed by two officers. The length of the road in one zone is almost 1 kilometer.

Armed with makeshift equipment, such as broom sticks, shovels and sacks, Mentari Rahmadhany aka Rahma, 27, began working to clean up garbage on Sunday (23/6) at 4 a.m., in the Palmerah Barat zone. This zone is located along Jl Palmerah Utara, West Jakarta.

"If it only started at 5 a.m., I would not be able to finish the job on time. By 7 a.m. it has to be clean," said the woman from Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Public Infrastructure and Facilities Maintenance Officers paint a mural in a parking lot on Wednesday (19/6/2019) in Keagungan village, Taman Sari, West Jakarta. Murals and other decorations are brightening up several corners in the capital to welcome Jakarta\'s 492nd anniversary, which falls on 22 June.

Rahma is one of thousands of cleaning service personnel called the Orange Troops. This unit is part of the ranks of PPSU officers. The Orange Troops work 24 hours a day divided into three shifts.

At night, sellers fill the roadside area. They offer a variety of foods, so a lot of food and beverage waste is scattered. There is also a collection of household waste that is often thrown onto the roadside. Esa said it was usual for her to clean rat carcasses on the streets.

In addition to carrying out their duties, Esa, Rahma and all cleaning service crew members also have a special mission, an important mission as representatives of the Jakarta provincial administration, namely promoting clean living habits to the community.

PPSU officers put warnings written on banners in several places on the side of the road. The messages conveyed include thanking the residents who dispose of garbage in the proper places or warning the residents that littering can be fined at up to Rp 500,000, according to Jakarta Regulation No. 3/2013 on waste management. "But many people still aren\'t aware," Esa said.

KOMPAS/AGUIDO ADRI

Firefighters extinguish a fire on Friday (21/6/2019) that razed a fireworks warehouse on Jl. Asemka in West Jakarta. Twenty-seven fire trucks were deployed to extinguish the fire at the warehouse.

Life in urban areas or in other places cannot progress without good community participation. As Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan emphasized, last Saturday during Jakarta\'s birthday celebration, development in Jakarta involved residents and needed the active role of the residents to move forward together. (AYU/GIO)