Jakarta (Greeners) – The successful of 2018 Asian Games also include the roles of sanitary volunteers of which often escapes public attention. Rangga, one of the sanitary officers of South Jakarta, felt honored to be working at the biggest sports event in Asia.
“Because, we are the host and elected to be sanitary workers, we need to work hard and best. We must be ready to pick up a small amount of trash,” said Rangga, in Jakarta, on Thursday (30/08/2018).
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He said becoming a sanitary worker in Asian Games is fun because he got to meet foreign guests. Furthermore, he said that he also memorized the GBK stadium area to anticipate for lost participants.
Meanwhile, Nasyim, another sanitary officer said that it is not an easy job because they often picked up things people would not want to pick up.
“Sometimes, we need to prepare ourselves because we found waste that was too gross. We need also to deal with the smell because waste at Asian Games is mostly food and if they are mixed, the smell can be unbearable,” he said.
Photo: greeners.co/Renty Hutahaean
Mualim, a sanitary staff in Central Jakarta, said that the workers work in two shifts, the morning to afternoon and continued until at night.
“The working shift was adjusted with the field condition. If it’s holiday and crowded, workers usually finished their works at around 2 am in the morning,” he said. “If that happens, they would just work happily because it is a sense of pride for use to become the sanitary workers of this international event.”
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Ali Maulana Hakim, deputy head of DKI Jakarta environmental agency, said that a total of 385 workers were assigned to GBK stadium.
“We are working our best to make Jakarta as the best host, the clean city, friendly citizens. The world will look at Indonesia because we are hosting the biggest sports event in Asia,” said Hakim.
Furthermore, he said as good impression will not only been created from clean environment, he had instructed his staffs to have better interaction with all parties.
“We don’t just encourage our staffs to clean up but also have good communication and interact with athletes, committees, and guests from all countries. We need to have a sense of pride that they are a part of this Asian Games,” he said.
He said that workers were working day and night to make the event clean should be appreciated. “It cannot be measured with money,” he said.
The workers worked from Gate 1 to Gate 11, including parks and industrial areas. They were divided into three categories, — West Jakarta worked from Gate 1 to Gate 5, South Jakarta from Gate 6 to Gate 8, and Central Jakarta from Gate 9 to Gate 11.
Reports by Dewi Purningsih
21 Apr 2024 
