Pollution in the Citarum River

According to World Integrated Trade Solution, Indonesia is currently ‘among the top 10 textile
and clothing producers in the world, garnering over USD$12.7 billion in exports’. As
mentioned in Indonesia Investments, the industry has over 3 million workers in the various
corporations and is an important sector for the Indonesian economy. It is estimated that an
additional 600,000 workers would be needed every year. Bandung Regency is an area in West
Java that is highly dedicated to the production of textiles. By August 2013, there has been an
estimate of 407 formal and 423 non-formal organizations in the textile sector, recorded by the
Bandung Regency government. However, the economic growth from the textile sector brings
with it a tremendous environmental expense. One of the major impacts of the textile industry
in Bandung, Indonesia is the quality of water of the Citarum river.

[River Pollution: byrev]

The Citarum river has been reported as one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Covering
an area of approximately 13,000 square kilometers, the river provides as much as 80% of
surface water to Jakarta’s water supply, 5% of water needed for irrigation of rice farms, and to
over 2000 industrial factories in the area. It supports over 30 million residents for agricultural,
domestic and personal use. However, the emergence of over 200 textile factories on the river
banks has caused serious effects to the river’s health.
With regards to regulation, according to Greenpeace, there have been several issues mainly:

Dismal regulation by authorities: 264 chemicals being regulated out of 100,000 that are used
within the textile industry. This has resulted in many facilities releasing toxic and hazardous
industrial chemicals into the river with no consequences whatsoever. Corruption by inspectors
has also allowed dumping of regulated chemicals.
Limited regulation of discharges: Very few efforts have been taken to ensure facilities abide
by wastewater release standards. Enforcement has been weak and this has caused only 47.2%
of industrial facilities in the Bandung Regency to attempted to treat wastewater. To make things
worse, only 40% of that number met the wastewater quality standards.
Lack of innovation: Little has been done to carve out frameworks and infrastructure that can
reduce the release of toxic substances and ultimately phase out the use of such chemicals.
Issue of transparency: No easy access to the public on the monitoring of discharge. The Public
Disclosure of Industrial Pollution (PROPER) approach is currently used to reduce industrial
pollution through providing the public with information. However, the program is extremely
limited due to its lack of transparency and the scope of regulation, which only covers a very
limited number of substances and practices .

[Citarum river pollution: Chief]

Some of the negative impacts on the Citarum river include:
A report has stated that industrial waste in the river has affected 2300 acres of rice fields with
heavy metal contamination, costing economic losses of over USD$866 million over 2 decades
worth of pollution
Dangerous levels of alkalinity in wastewater, one was even found with pH levels of 14, capable
of burning human flesh. Greenpeace described the wastewater as ‘highly caustic, will burn
human skin coming into direct contact with the stream and will have a severe impact (most
likely fatal) on aquatic life in the immediate vicinity of the discharge area’
“During the tests I got a couple of tiny splashes on my face….. It hurt and then was itchy for
about a week.” Ahmad Ashov, Greenpeace campaigner

The river has been recorded with high levels of nonylphenol, which can be deadly to aquatic
life
Half a million residents have ingested water with lead concentrations tested at 25,000 times
higher than recommended level
Pollution levels are compromising public health, and many families that rely on the river are
starving due to steep decreases in the fish population
Besides the Citarum river, most of the major rivers in Indonesia are also badly polluted due to
untreated domestic waste and uncontrolled industrial wastewater. Citarum river is not an
isolated incident and these toxic waters are extremely detrimental to the Indonesian
community.

What does this have to do with me?

Since the Bandung Regency is a major producer of many of our clothes, the fact that so much
toxic materials are used will have effects on us as well. Most of these chemicals tend to stay in
our clothes even after production and can only be washed off after a few washes.

It is also important to remember that our purchases are affecting communities abroad. It is thus
important for us to purchase wisely, as many lives are at risk from our actions.
https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hp3203-2017-10/indonesian-textiles/pollution-in-the-citarum-river/

Efforts for the Citarum River

There have been efforts to clean up the Citarum river over the past 30 years.
In 1989, a governmental program called Program Kali Bersih (PROKASIH) aimed at
‘[improving] water quality by reducing emissions from the most important sources of water
pollution in Indonesia’. They attempted to do so by rigorously installing wastewater treatment
facilities and communal domestic treatment plants. However, according to Greenpeace, despite
the claims that wastewater discharges have reduced, the water quality has not shown any
improvement and even deteriorated.
In 2003, the National Policy on Clean Production was established as an avenue for both ‘central
and regional governments to supervise and develop the Clean Production program’ and to
‘encourage stakeholders to implement the 5R (Re-think, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recovery)
principles’. However, the successes thus far has only concerned energy saving and had little
impact on reducing the use of chemicals in the textile industry.
In 2007, the government prepared an integrated recovery program called the Integrated Citarum
Water Resources Management Investment Program (ICWRMIP). The program aimed at
improving water quality and water resource management through various platforms such as
capacity building and water rights strengthening. This is still in operation but with very little
effect as the Citarum river condition worsens.
[Fishing boats: Terry Allen]
In 2009, Asian Development Bank provided a loan of USD$500 million on top of the local
effort of USD$3.5 billion to restore the river, and to provide safe and clean water supplies and
sanitation facilities to families. However, the Citarum river has yet to meet the water quality
standards set by the Indonesian government back in 1989, despite the promising amount of
money dedicated to the project.
Local community organizations such as Pawapeling and WALHI (Indonesian Forum for the
Environment) have been working tirelessly to reduce chemical discharge into the river. In
December 2015, they sued three factories and the Sumedang Regency government for dumping
into a tributary of the river and they won, resulting in these factories wastewater permits
revoked, ultimately causing them to close down.
Other efforts include the Mayor of Bandung, Ridwan Kamil imposing a ban on Styrofoam
packaging, in an attempt to reduce pollution by households.
Greenpeace has also helped with their Detox campaign which pressurizes large apparel
companies to stop using toxic chemicals in their factories and facilities.
Ultimately, despite the efforts, there is still much to be done for the Citarum river to rejuvenate
it back to its healthier pre-industrialization days.
https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/hp3203-2017-10/indonesian-textiles/efforts-for-the-citarum-river/