Surabaya River is downstream tributary of Brantas River, the longest river in East Java. More than 3 million people of Surabaya City rely on the river to supply drinking water and for irrigation. Unfortunately, there are more than 200 industries dispose untreated wastewater directly into Surabaya River. The river pollution by javanese traditional perception that consider and utilize river as dumping site for house waste and garbage. The javanese people in the past believed that the river water is flowing and all the garbage they disposed into the river will wash away and the river will stay clean again. Most people now still believe that the river is dumping site for their waste.
The government policy also treat Surabaya River as sewerage for industrial and domestic waste. Since 1970’es hundreds of industries were built along the river banks in order to facilitate waste disposal into the river. Most of industries do not have waste water treatment facilities that untreated waste water directly disposed into Surabaya River every day. At present, the people activities in the river are not common anymore, because the water quality is not suitable to be used for bathing and washing and many of the fish and mussels have disappeared. However, the poor people that live at the river banks still use the river for washing and bathing because they do not have money to buy clean water. The community in Brantas watershed used to drink boiled water from the river or well. At present all of the wells at industrial area and close to the river are polluted such as in Driyorejo where the well water can not be use to drink and the color is yellowish or blackish with strange odor. The well water will leave yellowish marks on the clothes after being washed with the well water. People along Surabaya River can not use river water for domestic purpose like they used to do about twenty or fifteen years ago. The people now have to pay extra money to buy clean water from semi government enterprise that supplies clean water, or to buy bottled spring water that are quite expensive. The water pollution also reduces body fitness of the community due to pollutants contamination that has increased the risk of health and suspected to cause mental and growth disorder. The cases of infectious disease in children are increase due to poor sanitation and contamination of water and food product by hazardous waste and bacteria, such as typhus fever and diarrhea or heavy metals poisoning. The poor people and farmers do not have any choice but still have to use the polluted water because they do not have enough money to buy clean water. The paddy field some times failed to be harvested and destroyed by the pollution.
The water pollution increases the risk of community health disorder and infectious disease due to limited access to clean water and water contamination by hazardous pollutants. According to data from regional hospital in Surabaya, 56% of children that suffers cancer live near Surabaya River. The diarrhea and typhus fever cases in children increased during the last decade. Hazardous pollutants from Surabaya River will also accumulate at the estuarine of Surabaya east coast that supplies fishery products for community in East Java. The heavy metal pollution in the estuarine has reached an alarming level and some research shown that the concentration of mercury, lead and cadmium exceeds the environmental standard. The children near Surabaya estuarine found to suffer slow-learner syndrome and it was suspected to be related to the poor sanitation, water pollution and contamination of fishery product that consumed by the fishermen families.
(3) The responsibility for water pollution control belongs to the governor in accordance with Government Regulation (PP) 20/1990 on Water Pollution Control. East Java Provincial Regulation 5/2000, in the interest of the decentralizing authority, makes it possible for the Governor to delegate responsibility to the head of the Provincial Environmental Pollution Control Office (Bapedalda). This agency coordinates all other agencies dealing with water pollution control. The Provincial Public Works Service is responsible for domestic and municipal wastewater and installation of sanitation facilities and Provincial Industry Service is considered responsible for industrial pollution control. Meanwhile, Law 22/1999 further devolves authority to District governments and urban municipalities to deal with their industrial polluters and to handle sewerage and wastewater treatment. At the watershed level, as part of the water sector reform, Government Regulation (PP) No. 82/2001 superseded PP 20/1990 and places management of urban and municipal water pollution under provincial, district and municipal purview. This PP also allows the levy of effluent discharge fees. The Ministry of Agriculture is to be involved in non-point source pollution from agricultural sources but formally, its regulation is under Ministry of Environment. In 1990, the Indonesian government established Perum Jasa Tirta (PJT I), a public corporation, to manage and maintain the infrastructure developed under the Brantas Multipurpose Project, and to coordinate management of water resources in the Brantas watershed. PJT I’s activities are financed through fees from industry and hydropower sectors and municipal water suppliers. PJT I’s mandate is to manage water quantity, water quality, conservation, and maintenance of water resources infrastructure. PJT I provides bulk water supply for irrigation systems, raw water for municipal and industrial use, water supply for hydropower plants, manages sand mining services, develops and operates tourism facilities on land and reservoirs under its control in its working area, and carries out consulting services.
The water pollution control implementation in Brantas River is weak. BAPEDAL as environmental management agency in East do not have sufficient power to give punishment to the polluter industries. The industrial operations are facilitated by the government policy to maintain its operation to contribute to economic benefits to the government and providing jobs for the community. Environmental pollution do not consider as important problems that also will threats the sustainability of industrial process. The top leader Governor of East Java province does not have environmental sense to adjust the exploitation rate with natural rehabilitation capacity. The economic and infrastructure development has become the government institutions with strong power that form government policy to maximize environmental exploitation.
surabaya river is my life
