Indonesia engages women to address domestic garbage problem

In a bid to attain "Indonesia Garbage Free" target by 2020, Indonesia is engaging women as "the educator" in their families to actively persuade people in family level to employ the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) method in handling domestic garbage. Their engagement was officiated through an official agreement signed Wednesday by Environment Minister Balthazar Kambuaya and Vita Gamawan Fauzi, the head of Family Welfare and Empowerment ( PKK), an official government organization tasked to further empower women. "In this matter, existence and role of PKK as an organization of women that act as the educator in their families become very essential. The PKK movement, with its complete coordination lines from central government down to villages, would give an ultimate support in improving people's participation,"the minister said on the sidelines of the agreement-signing in his office. He said that proper handling of garbage was part of environment preservation efforts shouldered by PKK. According to the minister, education in family level was crucial in encouraging people to sort, process and respect garbage. "Such an attitude was important to increase economic potential of garbage and avoid possible diseases inseminated by it,"he said. Indonesia declared a national movement to handle garbage problem on Feb. 24. It has also set Feb. 21 as a national day to care about garbage. Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, now has a population of 237 million. With 275 million population estimated by 2025, the country will produce at least 130,000 tons of garbage per day at that time.