Surabaya

Image 11.2.1 Photo by Niko Lienata on Unsplash

Surabaya is the largest metropolitan city in Indonesia. Being the largest metropolitan city, one can only imagine the hectic life and the economically driven society. Despite that, Surabaya recently received the 4th Adipura Award trophies (The Annual Award for Cleanest & Greenest Metropolitan City in Indonesia) for the cleanest city from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (LHK).  An article written by the consultant of the Waste Management System of Surabaya mentioned a few ways how this city can be very clean. In this article, he mentioned how the government and a leader’s vision is very important to ensure that the correct system and policies are put in place. Surabaya’s current mayor, Tri Rismaharini, is a leader with a clear vision of what she wants Surabaya to become. She is awake by 4.30 a.m. to monitor, control and ensure that everything in the right order because by 6.00 a.m., a metropolitan city will start its morning buzz. His article shared many tips and suggestions on what to put in place and how to run a good waste management system. The main point, however, lies in the government and the leader. 

Another interesting point that was raised up in the article is the willingness to learn from others. Many of my interviewees mentioned that they learned to not litter irresponsibly from their occasional trip to Singapore. They see that Singapore is very clean and tidy and wishes the same for their own society too. Personally, I am very proud of these two cities in Indonesia which managed to reach a point of cleanliness that can be recognized globally. Tanjung Balai Karimun need only to learn from her own neighbor.