Istiqlal Mosque To Have A Waste Water Treatment Plant

Jakarta, Dec 4 (ANTARA) - Indonesia`s grand mosque, Istiqlal, will have a waste water treatment plant to recycle waste water, according to a local official. "With this facility, waste water can be reused after being treated," said Muhammad Tauchid, head of the Jakarta environmental agency, after signing an agreement on the restoration of the Ciliwung River. The restoration project is a joint venture involving the Indonesian environmental affairs ministry and the South Korean environmental affairs ministry. Water from the mosque`s toilets will be treated after separating solid and liquid waste. The waste water will be used to water the plants in the vicinity after it has been processed. The waste water treatment facility will be designed by Indonesia`s Agency for Application and Assessment of Technologies (BPPT) and South Korea. "We are not just accepting technologies from South Korea, because BPPT has to assess them first," he said. The construction of the waste water treatment facility will begin in 2013. The facility will be built underground, and it will be able to process 500 m3 of waste every second. The waste water treatment facility in Istiqlal Mosque is part of the Ciliwung River restoration pilot project. Indonesia�s Environmental Affairs Minister, Balthasar Kambuaya, is optimistic that the polluted Ciliwung River will become clean in the next three to five years. "One day, people will see that the murky waters of the Ciliwung River have become clean, hopefully in the next three to five years," he said. The Ciliwung Restoration Agreement was signed by Indonesia�s Environmental Affairs Ministry, the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). This project will be a turning point for similar river restoration projects throughout the country. Restoration efforts under the agreement will be made in the next 36 months, up to 2015. For this project to be successful, funds are required from by the Indonesia government and from South Korea. Funds required for the project are as follows: Rp10 billion from the Indonesian government and US$9 million from South Korea.