Read This Too

"Keep it simple. Tell the truth. People can smell the truth."

by Steve Wynn

I believe that the things that generate the bad smell should be obvious to you especially if you have read all the posts in this blog… so let’s enumerate them:

1. Garbage – Yes garbage generates a Bad smell, if you don’t believe me then go to a garbage bin and smell it to convince yourself.…Why does it smell?... It smells because of the germs and bacteria that form in time and multiply. Plus when the decomposing process starts, it also releases some form of Gasses into the air and those gasses stink, right!? Gasses which we inhale when we breathe and sometimes they are a cause for us to get sick or our little ones who are not fully developed yet...

What we also need to realize is that all this garbage that we throw everywhere, helps the cockroaches and rats to multiply very fast, because that is what cockroaches and rats feed on. What we call garbage is food for them. That’s their perfect environment. So the more stuff we throw on the streets the more cockroaches and rats we’ll have, do you agree with me? And I have to tell you that some of the rats that I’ve seen in Jakarta scared the hell out of me! Some of them I even mistook them for a CAT! Amazing!

 The rats get so big here because they have a lot of food to feed on. For example: If you feed a person loads and loads of food then that person becomes really fat, right…the rats are no different, we keep on feeding them that’s why they are so big! and so many! soon they will kick us out of our home!

The garbage is a perfect environment for bacteria, germs and mosquitoes as they multiply much faster…think about it…In the long term this can have a damaging effect on our health, on our children’s health because these bacteria and germs are found in the air, and we breathe this air everyday, and you can’t stop breathing, you will die if you do that.

2. Sewerage system - the first reason why the sewerage system stinks is because of the waste water that it transports out of the city which is full of germs and bacteria…another reason why the sewerage system stinks so bad is because it’s open. I believe that if you cover the damn thing then it generates less bad smell into the air, because it’s closed…think about it...When there is a bad smell coming from the bathroom, what do you do? You get up and you hurry to close the door! So the smell can’t come in the house anymore, right…

Also when it’s open people throw all kinds of garbage in there, in the first instance causes the bad smell to become horrible, so horrible that it turns your stomach upside down and in the second instance causes the sewerage system to clog…….. Right!?..... No different from the way the drainage system clogs in your house or apartment …so the clogged sewerage system causes the waste water to be stuck in one place together with all the garbage that’s in it… Now this collaborated with the local climate which is hot and humid causes the bacteria and germs to multiply very fast and I believe you know what happens from there.

I also believe that the open sewerage system is dangerous for people, they can fall in it, children can fall in it; for example, my wife told me that when she was in primary school she fell in one of them while playing with her school friends. Also, one of my English friends fell in one of the open sewerage system in plaza senayan while he was going to take a taxi and go home. Maybe some of you fell in one as well or you know someone that fell in one. So that’s why I consider the open sewerage system as a potential hazard for us. 

3. Pollution – We all know that the carbon dioxide released in the air stinks, right!? Well… In "our home" it’s worse, because here there are so many cars, trucks, buses, metro mini, bikes, bajaj, so obviously a lot of vehicles means more pollution…What amazes me is that there is no quota put in place by the government for how much carbon dioxide a vehicle is allowed to release in the air, something like the carbon emission quota that oil companies have. As we do not have a viable alternative fuel to oil yet, implementing this carbon emission quota could be a good temporary solution until we find that alternative fuel. And when vehicles exceed their carbon emission quota they pay a fine, or, if they exceed their quota too much then those vehicles will not be allowed on the streets anymore.

Another wish of mine would be to see all of these big taxi companies like Blue Bird, Express, Taxi Cab, TaxiKu etc. switching their vehicles from gasoline to LPG - wet natural gas by installing an LPG tank in the trunk of the car. It burns cleaner than oil which means that it releases fewer gasses in the air.

 These companies conduct their business here which generates a consistent profit for them, so that means that Jakarta is their home too. So switching from gasoline to LPG I see it as a good way for these taxi companies to contribute towards improving Jakarta our home's air quality…wouldn't it be nice of them to give something in return…?... Plus, if they would switch their vehicles from gasoline to LPG then the consumption of subsidized fuel would decrease drastically, which could possibly, stop the fuel prices from increasing as well.

 I would like to know your opinion on this so please leave a comment.