Grandfather Eccu, Garbage Collector on the Mandar River

Polman, Sulbarkita.com - Eccu, 84 years old, paddled his boat slowly on the banks of the Mandar River, Tinambung District, Polewali Mandar Regency, Tuesday, December 10, 2019. His wrinkled hands were still nimbly pulling the handle of the paddle so the canoe glided on the water.

Occasionally the father of seven children stopped his canoe to reach for a plastic bottle floating on the river's edge. The bottle is then placed in the bow of the canoe which is full of plastic waste. "While looking for sustenance, I also clean up the river," said Eccu in the Mandar Language, the majority tribe who inhabit West Sulawesi.

Picking up trash in the Mandar River has become a routine for Grandpa Eccu in the past ten years. He did this during his busy fishing trips and helped his wife Dalmi, 80, sell agricultural produce such as coconuts and bananas. "Incidentally this plastic waste can be sold also Rp. 1000 per kilogram," said Eccu who claimed he could collect five kg of plastic waste per day.

The action of Grandpa Eccu to pick up trash in the Mandar River was viral on social media Facebook on Monday 2 December 2019. An account named Silfania Gustiana uploaded a photo Grandpa Eccu was swinging a boat filled with plastic waste in the Mandar River. "If you look at the river in Tinambung clean, this is Grandfather's bag, who always picks up trash. What's on the boat is all rubbish. Always healthy, sir, "Silfania wrote, explaining the photo.

Silfania uploads distributed thousands of times by citizens. Most of them appreciated Eccu's actions to clean up the Mandar River. Some even searched for the address of Grandfather. "Please inform me if anyone meets this grandfather. There is a little fortune to share," wrote an account named Nurjannah Ado'e. Sulbarkita.com has received permission to quote the status of Nurjannah.

The condition of the Mandar River, which has been polluted by garbage, has become a concern of the Polman community in recent years. Because the river is the main source of drinking water for residents, although Polman has a Regional Water Supply Company (PDAM) Wai Tipalayo, which was established 29 years ago.

Mukhlis, 31, a resident of Sepang Neighborhood, Tinambung Village, who lives on the banks of the Mandar River, said his family had been consuming the river for generations. They take water by making small wells as deep as 50 centimeters at the edge of the Mandar River. "Residents here call it Wai Sauq or padded water," said Muhlis, 31, at his residence on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. "There is also the belief that Wai Sauq is nutritious for health," Mukhlis added.

But since the Mandar River has been polluted by garbage, local residents have been alarmed. Rusli, 60, admitted that he was now uncomfortable to bathe there. "A little disgusted, but it can't be helped, because it's only here where we can take a shower," Rusli said when met on the banks of the Mandar River, Tuesday, December 10, 2019. Most of the people on the banks of the Mandar River do not yet have their own wells.

Rusli claimed every afternoon he saw Eccu using a canoe to pick up plastic trash on the riverbank. He was amazed by the sincere actions of Eccu who took the time to clean the river, while he was earning a fortune. "Grandfather Eccu can be an example for us to clean up the river and not to throw garbage again here," he said.

The River Mandar Bersatatus is heavily polluted
The Mandar River is the second longest river in West Sulawesi after the Maloso River, Mapilli District, Polman. The Ministry of Public Works said the length of the Mandar River reached 90 kilometers. This river crosses three districts namely Alu, Limboro, and Tinambung District.

The Department of Environment (DLH) of West Sulawesi has conducted laboratory tests on the Mandar River Water Quality Index in 2018. One of them is by using the Storet method which is commonly used to determine water quality. The results were astonishing, because the Mandar River was heavily polluted.

Head of Environmental Pollution Control Section of DLH Sulbar Juwariah Jusuf said the value of pollution at six monitoring points in the Mandar River ranging from minus 43 to minus 60. "The impact if consumed can be attacked by diarrhea due to the presence of bacteria there," Juwariah said in his office, Thursday, December 12 2019.

Juwariah said that one of the triggers for the pollution of the Mandar River was people's bad habits such as defecating and defecating there. "Don't throw garbage in the river, because in addition to causing flooding, it can also pollute and interfere with health," he said pleading.

The Head of the Waste Management Section of the Environment and Forestry Office (DLHK) of Polewali Mandar, Fitriani, said that his institution had carried out a socialization so that the community did not throw garbage in the Mandar River. The Head of the Hygiene and Landscaping Division of the Polman DLHK, Nursyam, said that he collaborated with Tinambung District officials to make the socialization a success. "One way is to provide a fleet of garbage transporters and personnel on a regular basis," Nursyam said by telephone on Wednesday, December 11.

While the Head of Tinambung District, Arifin, said that one of the reasons for the difficulty in eradicating rubbish in the Mandar River was the habit of residents throwing garbage in the river. "Though we have provided garbage bins at several points. There are two containers for garbage collection, "he said via telephone, Wednesday, December 11, 2019.

The opposite was revealed by Muhidin, 38, a resident of Lekopaddis, Tinambung sub-district, whose house is not far from the banks of the Mandar River. He said residents had no choice but to throw trash into the river. "The government here has not yet prepared a garbage shelter," Muhidin said when met at his residence on Wednesday, December 11, 2019.

Nursyam added that he would appreciate it if there were community heroes who volunteered to clean up the Mandar River such as Grandfather Eccu. He considered Eccu could inspire residents to maintain the cleanliness of the Mandar River. "Active community participation such as grandfather's is needed, because it starts with their awareness that the problem of waste can be handled," Nursyam said.

Simple life of Grandpa Eccu
Eccu was lying on a bamboo bale when Sulbarkita.com visited his residence in Ressa Village, Tanganga-Tangnga Hamlet, Tinambung District, Polman, Thursday afternoon, December 11, 2019. Unusually, he did not go to the river to collect plastic trash. "I still have a stomachache," he said in a low voice.

Eccu lives in a typical house of the Mandar Tribe which is in the form of a stage, with the size of half a badminton court. The building consists of two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. The walls are in the form of gamacca or embroidered sago bark. But the house began to look rickety. The walls of the gamacca have weathered with age. Even so the porous pole of his house. The color of the walls of the house also looks dull because not chewed with paint.

In that house Eccu lived with his wife, Dalmi, and his daughter, Aslia, 31 years old, and two grandchildren. The six other Eccu children migrated to Kota Baru, South Kalimantan.

Mandar River is only about 300 meters from Eccu's home. Eccu claimed to be loyal to pick up trash there because he was concerned about the condition of the river which was getting increasingly dirty. "In the past, the water was very clean, unlike now, there is a lot of rubbish," he complained. According to Eccu, the Mandar River was once the belle of residents to bathe and look for fish. "But because it is no longer dirty.

But Eccu's grandfather did not expect his action to pick up garbage in the Mandar River to the attention of the people of West Sulawesi. "But as far as I know, nobody but me picks up trash there."

Eccu's habit of walking down the Mandar River to collect plastic waste makes the child, Aslia, often worried. He also always forbade his father to go to the river because of Eccu's aging age. "But you don't want to," said the widow of two children.

MUHAMMAD ASHARI | ERISUSANTO | AHMAD G.