West Manggarai Regent Supports PTTEP Indonesia to Tackle Waste in Labuan Bajo
30 May 2024
The Regent of West Manggarai (Mabar), Edistasius Endi, supports PTTEP Indonesia in dealing with waste in the district, especially in Labuan Bajo.
Waste is an environmental problem that until now has not been handled properly, especially in coastal areas, including Labuan Bajo, the capital city of Mabar, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
Behind its beauty, Labuan Bajo, which is one of the 5 Super Priority Tourism Destinations, still leaves a lot of homework for the local government.
Realizing that waste management is not only the government's task, but also the task of society, communities, and also the private sector. PTTEP Indonesia shares the same concern and has a sense of social responsibility to help overcome the waste problem in Labuan Bajo particularly.
The Waste Management Program is a form of PTTEP Indonesia's support for the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) regarding 5 Super Priority Tourism Destinations. Previously, PTTEP Indonesia was also involved in a waste management program in Toba Regency, North Sumatera.
In this program, PTTEP Indonesia collaborates with Bank Sampah Bersinar, and the local environmental community namely the Prundi Labuan Bajo Mabar NTT Foundation, led by Pater Marsel Agot, SVD.
In a recent courtesy visit in Labuan Bajo which was attended by PTTEP Indonesia, Fei Febri, Director of Bank Sampah Bersinar, Pater Marsel Agot, SVD, West Manggarai Regent Edistasius Endi gave a positive welcome and ready to support PTTEP Indonesia's involvement in waste management in Labuan Bajo.
According to Regent Edi, regarding the waste problem in West Manggarai, especially in Labuan Bajo, what needs to be changed first is the way the local community thinks. "It's useless to hold lots of programs but there is no public awareness of their own environment," he said.
In the initial stages, this program will focus on educating the public and increase public awareness regarding the environment, because increasing public awareness on waste will make it easier for parties to resolve waste problems which are still difficult to resolve.
Deputy Regent of West Manggarai, Yulianus Weng, also admitted that waste was still a problem in the area, including in Labuan Bajo. "The district government, with all our effort, continues to collaborate with various parties to try to reduce and minimize the local waste problem," he said.