Public parks, a valued hangout space for Denpasar residents

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Wednesday, January 16 2013

Some love public parks for the priceless health benefits they facilitate, others love being in the parks for the chance to make new friends and to bond with family or a sweetheart. Whatever their reason, public parks always have had a special place in the heart of most Denpasar residents, and their popularity has kept on soaring in the past decade.

It was a drizzly morning on a regular work day, yet, bare-chested Iwan, only covering his head with a rolled up T-shirt, braved the morning drizzle to complete his seven laps of the day around the four-hectare Puputan Margarana field in Renon, downtown Denpasar.

He was not the only one who was braving the morning drizzle that Tuesday. Others included a group of school kids and joggers wearing raincoats or carrying umbrellas.

“It’s healthier to jog in the rain. I jog and walk here six times a week. Not a day goes past without jogging, except Sundays,” said the 60-year-old hairdresser-cum-businessman, who has been jogging at Renon field since 1996.

“My main motivation is certainly health. But I like to start conversations with other people as well. Here I have met many new acquaintances, some of whom later become my business partners,” said Iwan, while greeting a shoeless jogger covered by a raincoat.

“This the best public park I know. No pollution at all. Even Jakarta does not have any like this. It’s perfect,” commented Iwan about the Renon field that welcomes hundreds of visitors on a daily basis, especially during weekends.

For his fellow jogger, Bagus Putra Baskara, a 47-year-old travel agent, jogging at the Renon field is addictive. “Doing sports is like a drug. If I don’t do it, my body aches instantly,” said the former badminton player.

Security officer Bambang acknowledged doing sports at Renon field had brought him priceless health benefits. “I used to be overweight, as heavy as 81 kilograms, but since I have walked here over the past five years, I have managed to stay at 69 kg and walking is not a torture for me anymore,” said Bambang.

Bicycling enthusiast Endra Datta, who walks around the Renon field every Saturday, said he was grateful for the presence of the public park as it helped bring him closer to his soccer-loving son. “My son loves playing soccer. So, I help him look for a place to train in Renon field. So, while he trains there every Saturday, I enjoy a walk around the park,” said Endra.

Endra expressed his pride in the city’s park, which over the years has become a benchmark for other regencies to follow. “It is amusing to observe the lively crowds visiting the park. They come from such a diverse background, young and old, the haves and the have-nots, the sport enthusiasts and the artists. I noticed that the public park concept in Renon has also inspired neighboring regencies, like Gianyar and Tabanan, to have their own,” he said.

Just like Endra, who expects better trash handling and proportional event-hosting at the Renon park, Udayana University’s spatial planning observer Putu Rumawan Salain acknowledged there was still room for improvement in the Denpasar public parks, including decent public toilets and sufficient park lights.

“More similar public parks must be made available spread around Denpasar, not only a concentrated spot in the city’s downtown, so that more residents can enjoy the benefits of such parks,” said Rumawan.

Other similar public parks around Denpasar include the Puputan Badung field at the kilometer zero spot of Denpasar city and the Lumintang field in the northern part of the city.

Realizing the popularity of public spaces among Denpasar residents, the city and provincial administrations have pledged to continue making improvements to the Puputan Margarana and Puputan Badung fields, to provide more convenience for the visitors.

SAMAS keep on pedaling to nurture bike-to-school preference

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post  | Tuesday, November 6, 2012

While many underage students in Bali nowadays have turned to riding motorcycles to school and elsewhere, parents and teachers acknowledge that they hold a significant role in nurturing the bike-to-school preference among their children.

“Parents’ lifestyles determine their children’s inclination to ride a motorcycle or bicycle. Teachers are also significant role models in promoting the bike-to-school preference among underage students,” said parent and teacher Made Darwi on the sidelines of a bike-to-school campaign by the Denpasar-based association of bicycle communities (SAMAS) at SMP Sunari Loka junior high school in Kuta over the weekend. Around 300 first grade junior high school students attended the campaign.

He claimed that about 200 out of the over 1,200 students cycled their way to school, apparently because their headmaster was actively engaged in the Sunari Loka bicycle community, and sometimes biked to school himself.

For another parent, I Gusti Ngurah Wirata, who is also an active member of the Denpasar-based Lelasan Berseri bicycle community, similarly cycling to school is part of his way of educating his four children about the deeper philosophical importance of appreciating a process in life.

“Cycling to school is not only for health or to save the environment. As a father, I see it as a way for my children to understand that things in life do not all come in an instant. There’s a process in everything,” the clothing entrepreneur said. He only allows his children to ride motorcycles on public streets when they have reached the age of 17 and have a driving license.

Wirata applauded the school’s effort to drum up student appreciation for cycling through sightseeing activities to tourism locations like Nusa Dua, Taman Ayun in Mengwi and Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park, which take place by bike.

SAMAS secretary Endra Datta told Bali Daily that promoting bike-to-school among junior and senior high schools in Denpasar and Badung remained challenging work. “We are trying to strengthen the bike-to-school preference that is already present in schools like Sunari Loka. When we try to promote bike-to-school in schools that don’t possess a bicycling culture, it is extremely difficult.”

As of today, SAMAS has so far initiated visits to encourage the bike-to-school attitude among junior and senior high schools in Ubud, Denpasar city and Badung regency. It plans to widen its bike-to-school campaign at the upcoming Green Camp Festival on Serangan island, in which dozens of schools will participate.

Both Darwi and Endra regretted that the bike-to-school promotion efforts seemed to face a quite peculiar challenge from the law enforcers (police) themselves. “Just last week, personnel from the Kuta Police came to Sunari Loka junior high school promoting safe riding to the underage junior high school students. Apparently, the police said underage students may ride motorbikes after all, so long as they wore their school uniforms, a safety helmet, and carried the STNK [vehicle registration document],” said Darwi, shaking his head in disbelief, while he cited another occurrence where he saw the son of a policeman in his neighborhood allowed to ride his own motorcycle, although he is not yet 17 years old.

Endra noted that similar motorcycle safety guidance had been promoted by police personnel at another junior high school in Denpasar. “Supported by a motorcycle company, the police came to a junior high school located on Jl. Gunung Agung to raise awareness of safe motorcycle riding. While we come to schools asking underage students not to drive motorbikes, the police say otherwise. That’s just incomprehensible,” said Endra.

Meanwhile, head of Denpasar Police Sr. Comr. Wayan Sunartha told Bali Daily over the weekend that students without a driving license who rode motorcycles were violating traffic laws.

“We have repeatedly come to schools to remind students of this traffic regulation. Despite wearing helmets, underage students, who obviously do not have a driving license, will have their motorbikes confiscated. We will call their parents and teachers too. We can’t give them tickets as ticketing is not a solution for this problem. Parents and teachers must also take responsibility to keep reminding their children not to violate the law,” said Sunartha.

New minibuses offer some certainty to passengers, drivers

By Agnes Winarti

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Wednesday, October 17 2012

It has been almost 20 years since Balinese society abandoned public transportation due to its unreliability. However, that could become history as Denpasar residents enthusiastically take to the newly launched bright green minibuses.

For over a month now, as many as 48 feeder minibuses that complement the province’s Trans Sarbagita buses, have been roaming the city’s streets, carrying with them passengers from various walks of life, including a 95-year-old grandfather, housewives, the over-60s, office employees, 20-something youngsters and school children.

“Previously, my knees hurt waiting for the bemo [public minibuses]. They took forever to arrive. But things have changed since these new minibuses have been operating. They really are on time,” said Wayan Robin, a grandmother from Sidakarya, who on Tuesday took a ride on the minibus to get to a family wedding ceremony.

“And when they start to charge, it will still be cheaper than those bemo that charge Rp 5,000 [52 US cents],” she said. Until Dec. 31, all rides on the minibuses are free-of-charge, while, starting January next year, adults will pay Rp 2,000 for a one-way ticket.

Cyprianus, an office worker, also acknowledged that he had been taking different feeder minibus routes since they were launched in September. “No, it’s not complicated at all,” he said.

The bright green minibuses currently operate on four different return routes: Route 1 runs between GOR Ngurah Rai and Renon; Route 2 from Matahari Terbit to Simpang Teuku Umar; Route 3 connects Simpang Teuku Umar and Jl. Bypass Ngurah Rai; and Route 4 connects Jl. Sudirman–Jl.Waturenggong–Jl. Sidakarya. They intersect with each other, as well as with several stops — including Matahari Terbit, Jl. Sudirman, GOR Ngurah Rai, Jl. Diponegoro and Benoa Pesanggaran, along the two main Trans Sarbagita routes.

First-time passengers like Nanik and Adi, who live in Nusa Dua, acknowledged that taking the minibus was much more comfortable when dealing with traffic jams and the scorching heat on the tropical island. “These days, it’s so hot and traffic is worsening, so if we’re not in a hurry, taking the minibus is a good option,” said Adi, who is in his 20s.

From the overall routes, the Denpasar Transportation Agency has recorded around 1,000 passengers per day using the feeder minibuses, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, a number which has doubled from earlier days when they had just been launched.

Maps of the feeder minibus networks are available and can be requested from the drivers.

“Right now, our main target is to operate punctually, according to our timetable and stay on track with the routes. We want to make public transport reliable, and thus, gain the trust of our passengers.

“That’s why we continue to roam the streets although there are still empty seats,” said driver
Mochammad Sangkala, 56.

The networks not only offer certainty to passengers, they also provide a steady income for the 56 drivers currently working eight-hour shifts.

Sangkala, who previously drove a bemo connecting Ubung terminal to Sanglah hospital, said: “Previously, I did not earn a regular income; sometimes I could get Rp 200,000 a day, others Rp 15,000 or come home with nothing at all. Now, although it’s a small sum, at least, every day I can be sure of receiving Rp 100,000 for driving and the gas.”

Sangkala, who is also driver coordinator for Route 2, acknowledged that maintaining discipline was among the toughest challenge. “Some drivers, not all, are still having difficulty in being punctual,” he said.

Dewa Adi Pradnyana, head of the land transportation service unit at the Denpasar Transportation Agency, told Bali Daily of the agency’s commitment to ensure discipline among the drivers. “Exactly a month after launching, a driver was caught red-handed driving off his route. We found out from our GPS system that he was chartering his vehicle to Sentral Parkir Kuta. We immediately fired him,” said Dewa, citing that next month, a system complementing GPS would come into effective use, enabling the agency’s monitoring personnel to remotely stop the vehicle’s engine if it was discovered violating their operational routes.

“Among other challenges which concern behavioral change is ensuring the drivers don’t smoke while driving. We only allow them to smoke during break times,” said Dewa.

Aiming for better service, next year the administration expects to install air-conditioning in the vehicles, and open a couple of additional routes to connect the western and northern sides of the capital city. “Around 20 more vehicles will be required,” said Dewa.

“We understand if residents are still reluctant to try this mode of public transportation. But please do try it and have your say,” said Dewa. The public are welcome to share their comments by emailing: transdar_dps@yahoo.com, or calling 0361-419295.

Denpasar-Jimbaran route lacks details

By Agnes Winarti

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Saturday, August 11 2012

The buses on the new 54-kilometer round-trip Trans Sarbagita route from Denpasar to Jimbaran officially hit the roads on Friday and officials quickly found the need to address the various first-day flaws.

At one instance, the Sarbagita bus had to stop for a while at one of the bus stops inside the Udayana University compound in Jimbaran, while a worker — instructed by personnel from the local transportation agency — jumped onto the bus roof and used a string to tie up the entangled electricity and telecommunication cables just a few inches from the bus roof.

“Small things like these are often overlooked. We passengers could all get electrocuted by those cables,” said 69-year-old Sarbagita enthusiast and former private bank employee, Made Wirta, who was among the very few passengers who took the time to try out the newly opened route on Friday. A single journey from Denpasar to Jimbaran takes around 1.5 hours.

Believing that Sarbagita, the island’s integrated transportation system, would be one of the solutions to the worsening traffic in southern Bali, Wirta also highlighted the importance of equipping bus conductors with route maps to be distributed to passengers.

”The map is a very useful source of information for passengers. It should be distributed on the bus, as well as in other locations, like at Ngurah Rai [International] Airport,” said Wirta, after a passenger had to argue with one of the Sarbagita-Bali transportation agency members of staff to successfully get a copy of the route map as there were apparently only limited numbers available.

Indeed, the devil is in the details, and many details had not been carefully considered on the first day of operations.

One problem was the rows of private vehicles and small public transport vans, locally known as bemo, parked carelessly along and near the Sarbagita bus stops, especially at the Sanglah hospital stop and Jl. Surapati.

“I can’t find the bus stop. Where is it? These parked vehicles are stopping my bus from getting closer to the bus stop,” complained driver Made Sudana.

A member of staff from Bali transportation agency stepped out from the stop and waved Sudana on to continue the journey, while his passenger had to get off the bus right by the side of the road rather than safely at a bus stop.

For a Rp 2.1 billion (US$222,600) project funded by the provincial annual budget, it was also quite disappointing to find that a mere temporary staircase had been placed at the side of the road to take the place of a bus stop.

Meanwhile, although 2 kilometers is considered the ideal maximum distance between two bus stops, at the moment, there are stops that are up to 5 km away from each other, for example, between Sanglah and Pesanggaran stops in Sesetan area.

According to the plan, Jl. Diponegoro, also known as the Sesetan area, will be serviced by public minibuses that operate four different routes.

The Denpasar transportation agency has promised to start operating those so-called feeder buses by September.

Currently feeder buses connecting GWK to Tanjung Benoa and Uluwatu are already available. However, they are stationed at the entrance gate to the park, while the Sarbagita bus route ends at a bus stop inside the park, about 1 km from the entrance.

Head of Trans Sarbagita operations, Ida Bagus Parsa, acknowledged that they were currently still holding discussions with the Badung administration and the GWK park operator about options, including whether to build a new Sarbagita bus stop near the entrance gate or to have feeder buses stationed inside the park.

“With all the current flaws, we’ve decided to persist in running the buses because we want the public to notice our presence over the next couple of weeks. While operating, of course, we will continue improving our services, while also hoping that matters related to funding are cleared,” said Parsa.

Sarbagita, which stands for Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan regencies, began opera-
tions opening the Rp 4 billion Batubulan-Nusa Dua route in August last year.

Bike to school, not for the faint-hearted

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post 

 | 

Saturday, June 16, 2012

  

With the almost non-existent public infrastructure for bicycles, the growing number of vehicles on the roads and motorists’ low level of tolerance, to name just a few hurdles, the implementation of the Bike to School program is a hard sell indeed.

“The bike to school program is only realistic for junior high school students who live just a stone’s throw from their schools,” junior high school (SMP) PGRI 2 Denpasar headmaster I Gede Wenten Ariyasudha told Bali Daily on Thursday.

“Other than that, I believe parents’ priority will be their children’s safety. Letting the children bike through the bustling main roads for long distances would not be an option,” said Ariyasudha. The school has about 1,600 students, 200 of whom cycle to school daily, while most others are picked up by their parents from homes as far away as the Batubulan area in neighboring Gianyar regency.

The Bike to School program, an effort to reduce traffic jams and create a less-polluted environment, was initially launched in 2010 by the Denpasar-based bicycling community SAMAS, and was supported by the Denpasar municipal administration. Last year, SMP PGRI 2 welcomed SAMAS’ Bike to School campaign. This year, SAMAS secretary Endra Datta said that the community had also been campaigning at junior high schools, including SMP Dwijendra, SMP 1 Ubud, SMP 8, and senior high school SMA 1 Ubud.

Since 2009, Denpasar has only provided 20 kilometers of special cycling lanes, which cover Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Raya Puputan, Jl. Tjok Agung Tresna to Jl. Hang Tuah and Jl. Danau Tamblingan in Sanur. However, the lanes cover only a miniscule part of the route required for the 58 junior high schools and 45 senior high schools around the capital. Also, the lanes can’t be properly used, as they are often full of parked cars, not to mention that cyclists have to compete for space against motorcyclists who dominate the main streets of Denpasar.

Last year’s data from the Denpasar Transportation Agency’s traffic division showed that the streets of the capital city were packed with 575,111 motorcycles, the number of which has grown rapidly throughout the years. In 2010, there were 492,285 motorcycles on the streets of Denpasar, while in 2009, there were only 457,772.

Even the prestigious state senior high school, SMA Negeri 3 Denpasar, that had a compulsory policy for 30 years obliging all its students to bike to school, has now surrendered this policy and has allowed students to ride motorcycles since 2006.

The school might have won the 2012 Adiwiyata Nasional award from the Environment Ministry for its numerous environmental efforts, such as waste sorting, composting, making biopore holes and building greenhouses for plants, as well as academic writings and films on the environment, but it currently has to rent a 2,500 square meter plot of land to continue expanding its parking lot for its students’ motorcycles.

“The consideration to terminate our compulsory policy for students to cycle to school initially surfaced in 1992. We were overwhelmed performing daily raids on the students, who secretly rode motorbikes to school,” said teacher Anak Agung Ayu Sri Adi, who is also the school’s environment coordinator.

The bike to school policy was terminated in 2006, with the claim that it would ease the journey for students coming from homes more than 10 kilometers away in Kuta, Jimbaran, Sukowati, Peguyangan, as well as Singapadu. “We are still urging those living nearby to bike to school, but now almost all of them drive motorbikes,” Sri Adi said.

Only about 10 students at SMA 3 still routinely cycle to school every day, while the other 851 students in the 10th grade to 12th grade ride their own motorbikes, despite the fact that it is illegal to have a driving license below the age of 17.

And what do the students have to say about Bike to School?

“Studying at class covered in sweat won’t be convenient. Besides, when it’s time for us to return home, at noon, it’s hot and the streets are too crowded with motorcycles. So it’s better we ride our own,” said 11th grader Putu Sri Adnyasari, 17, who has been driving her own motorbike since 10th grade and lives just about 1.5 kilometers from school.

Another student, Diah Gayatri, 16, who drives without license, said, “I have too many activities after school. Riding a motorcycle saves my time and energy, I couldn’t bike all the way.”

Most students also said that having no driving license was not a problem, as long as they knew how to avoid streets where traffic police were on watch. Some parents even slip Rp 20,000 notes in their children’s motorbike STNK (vehicle registration card), so that the child can use the money to bribe the police, just in case they are caught.

“It happens,” regretted teacher Sri Adi, highlighting just another attitude that will block the realization of the Bike to School program.

Mercury phase-out at hospitals faces uphill battle

By Agnes Winarti

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Wednesday, June 13 2012

The phasing-out of mercury-based equipment is proving to be an uphill struggle as it faces resistance from hospitals in Denpasar. This is despite the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) planning a global legally binding treaty on mercury.

In 2013, the UNEP expects to launch a global legally binding treaty on mercury to gradually terminate the use of mercury worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Care Without Harm have also targeted a 70 percent reduction in the usage of thermometers and sphygmomanometers at worldwide medical facilities by 2017.

“Resistance comes from some hospitals, as they argue that digital thermometers and sphygmomanometers are lacking in accuracy. Speaking subjectivity, the mercury-based blood pressure measurement tools are actually more subjective and less accurate due to mercury leakages inside the measurement tube that are often left unnoticed,” Bali-based environmental NGO Balifokus founder Yuyun Ismawati told Bali Daily recently.

For the past five years, Prima Medika private hospital in Denpasar has been promoting the use of digital thermometers to service patients. The hospital’s general affairs manager, Dr Dian Ekawati, said that currently some 80 percent of the thermometers used in the hospital were digital, while the remaining 20 percent were mercury-based.

“Digital thermometers are easier to use. When measuring patients’ temperatures with the mercury-based thermometers, we sometimes need to wait longer for the Hg movement,” said Dr. Dian.

“However, to monitor blood pressure we prefer using the mercury-based equipment, because when we are reading the blood pressure we also feel and listen
to the systolic and diastolic pressure [of the heart muscles when relaxing and contracting]. If we use a digital monitor we have to fully rely on the equipment, so the result is less convincing and sometimes erratic,” Dian added.

Sanitation coordinator at Bali’s top referral hospital, Sanglah, Ketut Gede Surata, acknowledged that the process of gradually ending the use of mercury equipment was a matter of changing the medical staffs’ behavior and mindset, which he said, “is not as easy as turning the palm of your hand”.

Money matters also speak volumes in hampering hospitals to terminate the use of mercury-based equipment.

“The purchase of the non-mercury equipment would cause a bulging allocation from the hospital budget. A mercury sphygmomanometer only costs between Rp 700,000 [US$74.2] to Rp 1 million, while the digital or aneroid ones are Rp 3 million to Rp 5 million,” said Surata, adding that Sanglah currently planned to reduce the use of mercury fluorescent lamps and was working on setting its own Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) to cope with the chance of mercury spills in the hospital’s compound.

Balifokus staffer specializing in toxic waste, Luh Putu Kusuma Ririen, said that all 20 hospitals in Denpasar had yet to have a special storage for their mercury waste due to budget constraints.

Yuyun highlighted that the mercury phase-out efforts were seen as disrupting the long-standing business cooperation between hospitals and vendors of mercury-based equipment.

“We hope the vendors are willing to share responsibility with the hospitals to recycle the waste from their products. Equipment vendors are only concerned with selling their products, but they have no idea what to do with their products’ waste,” said Surata, citing that Sanglah also faced confusion in dealing with its silver bromide liquid waste, which was the end-product of developing x-ray films.

Every month, Sanglah’s x-ray lab uses 60 liters of liquid and at the end of the month there is about 1.5 liters of silver bromide chemical waste. “There are currently about four cans, or 20 liters, of silver bromide chemical stored in our warehouse. We still don’t know what to do with it,” said Surata.

Medical waste from 45 Bali hospitals: Where does it go?

By Agnes Winarti 

Photo by Anggara Mahendra

Published in Bali Daily/ The Jakarta Post Saturday, June 09 2012

Alone: 
BD/Anggara Mahendra
A technician pushes a cart filled with medical waste in an alley at Sanglah Hospital, which operates the only industrial-grade incinerator on the island.
Due to urgent calls to lower the operational capacity of its eightyear- old incinerator, Sanglah Hospital has, since March, ceased receiving medical waste from 45 private and public hospitals and clinics around Bali.

“We are trying to prevent our incinerator from breaking down. Previously, it could burn up to 700 kilograms of medical waste daily, but now we are limiting the total to 500 kilograms per day,” head of household and supplies at Sanglah Hospital Dr. I Wayan Aryana Yudiasa told the Bali Daily recently.

Since the initial operation of the incinerator eight years ago, Sanglah waste facility has served as the disposal point for medical waste from 93 hospitals and clinics throughout Denpasar, Gianyar, Klungkung, Tabanan and Bangli. Most of these are private institutions, 87 of which actively renew their yearly contract with Sanglah.

Between March and April, 45 hospitals and clinics had their yearly contracts ended. Sanglah is mulling whether to continue the heavy workload that has been taking a toll on the one-and-only incinerator for the whole island.

Among those with yet-to-be renewed contracts is BIMC Hospital, near Simpang Siur intersection. BIMC’s monthly medical waste amounts to 300 kilograms and is among the largest amount arriving at Sanglah. As Sanglah itself generates up to 350 kilograms of daily medical waste, a staggering 8,000 kilograms monthly, the incinerator can only accept an additional 150 kilograms daily from other hospitals, forcing Sanglah to halt the over-100- kilograms senders.

BIMC Hospital housekeeping manager Ari Prana Indra acknowledged to the Bali Daily on Friday that its contract with Sanglah had ended on April 1. However, when asked what measures had been taken for the past two months to handle their medical waste, he was reluctant to reply. Asked the whereabouts of BIMC’s medical waste since the contract ended, Ari said: “It is not here [at the hospital’s disposal area] anymore. It’s been transported for disposal, but it’s not a public disposal site. I’ve no further comment.”

Other hospitals that have been served by Sanglah’s incinerator also include private hospitals Prima Medika and Surya Husadha, just a stone’s throw away from Sanglah.

Surya Husadha’s household manager, overseeing sanitation and waste management, Desak Mahayani, declined to comment and suggested the Bali Daily contact a member of the hospital’s marketing team instead.

Surya Husadha’s daily medical waste, claimed to weigh up to 29 kilograms, is disposed of at a temporary disposal site and picked by trucks predawn. When asked where the trucks transported the waste, head of night-shift security, I Dewa Ketut Edi Adnyana, replied, “Please direct the question to the hospital’s public relations.”

Prima Medika’s general affairs manager, Dr. Dian Ekawati, said the hospital’s 15 kilograms daily medical waste was still transported to Sanglah as usual. “We’ve been cooperating with Sanglah since 2002,” said Dian, citing the contract had been renewed earlier this year.

“We’ve not thought about selfmanaging our own medical waste due to limited space. Building a waste management installation is difficult with regard to permits, not to mention a costly investment,” she said.

Among the 20 hospitals in Denpasar, only four are governmentowned, the rest are private hospitals. Sanglah’s incinerator was purchased with a grant from Australia in 2004. Every year, the incinerator requires up to Rp 80 million for maintenance, with a total allocation of Rp 150 million (US$8560) for operational expenses for both solid and liquid waste. Sanitation coordinator at Sanglah Hospital Ketut Gede Surata said, ideally, the annual allocation for the waste management system would be about Rp 600 million.

“This year, we requested a new incinerator with the same specification from the Health Ministry. But we are not sure whether the unit will arrive this year,” said Surata, who suggested that the hospital waste management system should have been divided into four zones, east, west, north and south Bali, to ease the burden of Sanglah as the island’s sole medical waste facility as it is today.