Syamhudi, Caring for Sungai Putat

Syamhudi, 42, founded Kreasi Sungai Putat, a community discussion forum and environmental movement. Composting, maggot breeding and peat conservation are a manifestation of the local community’s care and concern.

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Syamhudi

On Tuesday (11/4/2023), Syamhudi showed where maggots were being bred at the secretariat of Kreasi Sungai Putat (KSP), located in the area of Sungai Putat, neighborhood unit (RT) 001, community unit (RW) 026, in Siantan Hilir subdistrict of North Pontianak district, Pontianak, West Kalimantan. There, black soldier fly maggots were being bred and organic waste was being composted.

The waste collected from canals and the surrounding neighborhood is managed in an area capable of holding 1-2 tonnes of waste per month. Of this amount, 400 kilograms of waste are processed into compost.

“When people want to use compost, they come to the KSP demonstration site. Some buy the product and others are given it for free. Local residents get it for free. They can use [either] the compost or maggots,” said Syamhudi.

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Maggots are also used as poultry and fish feed. Meanwhile, the compost is used to improve agricultural land. Syamhudi also showed the community farm in Gambut hamlet, Sungai Putat Dalam, Siantan Hilir, around a 10-minute walk from the KSP secretariat.

The compost production is expected to meet farmers’ demand. The KSP cooperates with an RW-owned enterprise (BUMRW) in distributing the compost.

“Agricultural produce can contribute to household food resilience while [private] yards are also used for farming, and the local economy is boosted. Around 36 residents benefit from the compost produced by the KSP. We are promoting a circular economy,” he said.

We are promoting a circular economy.

The KSP started out as a residential discussion forum. Later, in 2011, it was suggested that the forum become an environmental movement, beginning with cleaning the canals. The KSP has maintained its bimonthly canal cleanup program to the present.

The area is called Sungai Putat because it used to have many putut trees (Planchonia valida). The KSP planted 100 putat treesin 2016 along the canals in Sungai Putat. The rows of trees prevent abrasion and at the same time, serve as an icon of the area. The flowers from the trees can also be used as fish feed.

Syamhudi hopes the canals will not be sacrificed to develop other public spaces to prevent their narrowing further. Given that Pontianak was part of a peatland hydrological unit (PHU), the canals should remain broad.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Ditch in Putat River, North Pontianak District, Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, Sunday (13/10/2019). Kereasi Sungai Putat became the driving force for ditch rescue.

At the start of the movement, Syamhudi invited two people who were concerned about the local environment to join the KSP.

“The process of involving residents in mutual assistance took around three years. There was no activity yet, only the process of persuasion. It was done by conversing with and approaching community figures,” he said.

The KSP’s first activity was to clean the surrounding environment, followed by installing drainage nets to collect waste in the canals, starting with one RT. By the fourth year, the drainage nets had been installed in one RW.

As it was developed, the RW had no drainage nets and so faced a problem of smelly waste accumulating in its canals. The nets that had been fitted previously had accidentally torn.

Discussions

Syamhudi evaluated his movement and realized that it needed more in-depth discussions that were held openly, behind closed doors and in public.

The discussions involved women at religious gatherings and children at a studio to open their minds to the function of canals. At these gatherings, Syamhudi pointed out that the canals, which were filled with waste, were also where the people bathed.

At several discussions, he told the local residents that if the canals remained filthy, their condition would worsen. He also reminded them of the canals in times past, when they were clean and teemed with fish, shrimp and other endemic biota.

He also posed a rhetorical question to the discussion participants, asking if the canals had changed now to become shallower and dirty, empty of endemic biota and filled with waste. He asked the question for the community to reflect upon, and what steps should be taken.

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The KSP thus invited the local residents to take collective action. In the sixth year of its existence, Syamhudi introduced the residents to the ecological function of canals.

When the KSP turned 7 years old, it organized a Festival of Canals to appreciate the local community’s environmental awareness. Each RW took turns hosting the festival. They also promoted public participation in caring for the environment and spread the importance of maintaining the canals.

The Festival of Canals also aimed to strengthen the movement to care for the canals and the environment. The festival presented several programs, including art and cultural performances, such as dances and poems about the canals. There was also a nostalgic city canal exhibition, a community discussion about the city’s future and a city expo that carried a rural ambience in displaying the residents’ products.

“The festival was held four times before the pandemic. Next year, the Festival of Canals will resume,” said Syamhudi.

KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA

Syamhudi

Maggot breeding

Aside from engaging in environmental matters, the KSP also intensified its economic and sociocultural activities. Originally, it collaborated with a waste bank but this did not run properly. Later, the idea of maggot breeding emerged.

To begin breeding the maggots, the KSP conducted research in the yards of local homes in 2018. It was then called the yard activity unit, with a subunit focusing on maggots. Eleven KSP members processed waste for the maggot breeding program.

After a year’s research, it was discovered that maggots not only decomposed waste and offered a solution to the waste problem, but also produced two products: compost and fish and poultry feed.

The KSP also initiated a women’s movement to promote local specialties and clothing for those with dressmaking skills.

After the maggot breeding program had made some progress, Syamhudi encouraged the residents to develop a waste bank. Today, the waste bank is operated by seven KSP members using two three-wheeled vehicles to transport the waste. The waste bank collects waste from the residents’ homes and sorts it to separate organic and inorganic waste. The waste that cannot be processed is transported to a landfill (TPA).

The KSP also initiated a women’s movement to promote local specialties and clothing for those with dressmaking skills. Expertise in batik making was facilitated to produce batik. Women became part of the KSP’s activities. They were also involved in micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) exhibitions.

The KSP also operates in upstream areas to encourage peatland conservation. They have developed a peatland cultivation and conservation scheme. Technically, this is connected to vegetable farming in Gambut hamlet, Siantan Hilir.

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It also set up a BUMRW for eco-education tourism, which is nature tourism to introduce the functions of peatlands that are maintained through conservation and cultivation. This was followed by familiarization of peatland water and soil.

The series of activities is designed as a circular economy or, as Syamhudi calls it, a shared green economy. It is an interrelated whole, from breeding maggots, to producing compost, and to supplying compost for agriculture. Maggots can be used in livestock and fish breeding. Waste from residents’ homes is managed by the waste bank.

So far, the economic value of maggot breeding under normal conditions is around Rp 5 million-Rp 7 million per month, according to Syamhudi’s calculations. The waste bank is valued at around Rp 9 million per month.

Thanks to its movement, the KSP has earned several awards, including one from the Public Works and Housing Ministry in 2019 in the category of River Care Community. It was followed that same year by an Environment Ministry award in the category of Primary Climate Hamlet.

Syamhudi

Born:Pontianak, 21 Sept. 1981

Education:

- Madrasah Miftahussa’adah Pontianak elementary school (1990-1992)

- State Elementary School 09 Kartiasa Sambas (1992-1995)

- Pondok Pesantren Al-Amien Prenduan Sumenep Madura junior & senior high Islamic boarding school, East Java (1995-2021)

Organization:

Chairman, Kreasi Sungai Putat (2015-present)

Family:

Wife:Suriyani, 36

Children:Three

Awards for Kreasi Sungai Putat:

- River Care Community in 2019 from the Public Works and Housing Ministry

- Primary Climate Hamlet in 2019 from the Environment and Forestry Ministry

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.