00:02On Bali, trash piles up with nowhere to go.
00:06Since April, the government's closed the island's biggest landfill to organic waste,
00:10part of a drive to enforce a ban on open landfills that's been on the books for 13 years,
00:15but not yet put in practice.
00:16There was a composting awareness campaign, but the message doesn't seem to have landed.
00:22Every day, the island produces 3,400 tons of garbage.
00:25And with no alternative landfill sites, the smell of rot fills the air as rats gather.
00:32Because of the smell from the waste, it affects us.
00:35Customers end up not buying.
00:37And then they might tell their friends it smells bad over there
00:40because of the trash piling up and not being collected.
00:43So personally, as a business owner, it's quite disruptive.
00:49Florist Yuvida Angi Prinanda says her shop produces four bags of waste a day,
00:53which quickly adds up over even a week.
00:55She's had to spend some of the small amount she makes on private waste disposal.
01:00And the island's tourism-driven service industry is hurting, too.
01:04The main impact is the smell.
01:06Because we also use milk products and things like that, which spoil easily.
01:10If they're left for too long, it creates an unpleasant odor.
01:14In the end, tourism may end up suffering in general.
01:18Around 7 million visitors came to Bali last year, dwarfing the local population of 4.4 million.
01:25Tourism does contribute to the waste problem, but it is also a pillar of the local economy.
01:30Already, some visitors say Bali's garbage crisis can't go on.
01:35The government needs to do something about this.
01:38You know, you have many rats here at night time.
01:41The smell is not very good.
01:43And for tourist people coming here, it's not a good look.
01:46No one wants to see it on the beach.
01:48And, you know, we always like to keep our beaches clean.
01:51But the government has reasons for cracking down on open landfills.
01:56Bali's large landfill has been over capacity for years.
01:59And with 70% of the waste inside organic, there's a danger of explosions as methane gas builds up amid
02:05the decay.
02:07Collapses are also a real danger, as Indonesia knows.
02:10In March, the country's biggest landfill site outside Jakarta collapsed, killing seven people.
02:15And despite protests from sanitation workers, the decision is final.
02:19There will be limited disposal in Bali's biggest dump through July, but no later.
02:25These steps are meant to build our culture as a nation.
02:29Therefore, strategic steps need to be taken gradually.
02:31Starting with one year of capacity building, then ending the practice of open dumping,
02:36followed by improving waste capacity and quality through sorting.
02:40For now, garbage plant workers are still doing their best.
02:44And there are plans for Bali.
02:46June should see the groundbreaking of a waste-to-energy project that may one day handle 1,200 tons of
02:52waste every day.
02:54But the project could take years, leaving the people of Bali trying to adapt to the tide of trash.
03:00Scott Huang and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
03:03All lucky.
03:03Quickly.
Comments