Open dumping of garbage landfills in Medan is the source of infected disease

Open-air disposal field in Medan City – the health problem occurs. As Medan expanding its area, the overcrowding is higher to which generate problem particularly in disposal system. Being metropolitan city, Medan must have prepared the system effectively and efficiently. However, the growing numbers of people including the building generates solid waste problem which are open dumping in certain location of the city. Doesn’t it produce health issue? Well, the government slightly reacts to it.

Open dumping garbage of landfills on Jalan Jamin Ginting, Medan, Indonesia

According to the opinion of the writer, Medan has produced lots of open dumping which is located in crowding area. There are two sites that is utilized for solid waste. They are located on Jalan Asrama on district Helvetia/ Tanjung Gusta and Jalan Jamin Ginting in front of the cemetery. These two locations are very near to residence and they are considered as one of the most overcrowding area in Medan. More importantly, since the writer started his own university studying in 2008, these two open dumping have been established until now.

As we know that the disposal waste contains so many waste not only organic but also inorganic. With the unprofessional act provided by the government, Medan has never conducted the recycling system yet, as far as the writer’s knowledge. Until now, the location is available for people to left their waste whenever they want. Based on the observation conducted by the driver, these two locations are not treated professionally particularly when the thread of health infection to nearby society attacking.

Based on the data provided by the website of department of health of Indonesia, in 2013 three from eight people are infected by malaria in 1 kilometer square of area. This is very high since the overcrowding in Medan around 7912/ kilometer square (Departemen Kesehatan Republik Indonesia, 2017).

The health issues provided by the open-air disposal field in Medan

The growing numbers of people is influenced by the rate of urbanization and the numbers of workforce. Mostly, the city area becomes overcrowding during the time of 8 o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock in the evening because of economic activity. At the same time, these numbers of hours generate big amount of waste either in form solid or liquid. The organic and inorganic waste that are produced by the community living standards are respectively food leftover and plastic.

Open dumping of garbage landfills on Jalan Asrama-Ringroad, Medan, Indonesia

Technically speaking, if the waste is stacking then it increases threats particularly from the infection. Study conducted in India in 2016 suggested that open dumping increases the risk of malaria, diarrhea, dengue and also other such detrimental health disorders (De & Debnath, 2016). It means, until this article is being written, the citizens living nearby these two sites are in high risk of getting attacks by malaria, dengue and diarrhea.

However, the problem occurring within the society about open dumping of the garbage is the awareness of people nearby. As the writer mentioned previously that these garbage landfills are located in city’s streets meaning not only the society but also the government itself do not see this as something crucial. And, unfortunately in landfill that is located on Jalan Jamin Ginting is nearby the university and community health clinic.

Removing the open dumping of garbage landfills in Medan

Medan is a big city, and it is considered as the third biggest city in Indonesia. This city is inhabited by almost two until three millions of people. With this numbers, Medan may produce waste either organic or inorganic tonnes of garbage. In order to prevent the infected diseases produced by the open dumping landfills, the government must react quickly particularly in organizing the waste by doing the recycling system.

The organic waste can be collected together in the evening while the inorganic compound is in the morning. The organic waste can be recycled into several commercial products such as fertilizer. Meanwhile, the inorganic waste can be recycled by chemically organizing it into recycle materials such as recycled plastics. However, the main purpose of green environment is to increase the society’s awareness. Therefore, the government must participate actively throughout frequent counseling and workshops.

References
[1] De, S., & Debnath, B. (2016). Prevalence of health hazards associated with solid waste disposal- A case study of Kolkata, India. Procedia Environmental Science, 201-208.
[2] Departemen Kesehatan Republik Indonesia. (2017, July 22). Database Kesehatan Per Kabupaten. Retrieved from Bank Data Departemen Kesehatan: http://www.bankdata.depkes.go.id
[3] Photographs were taken from google street view