Vice President says, communities should be involved in creating a sustainable environment

Gowa, South Sulawesi-wapresri.go.id. The efforts in the environmental preservation, according to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, should involve the community to make the environment sustainable.

The Vice President stated this while attending the 100 Million Bamboo Seed Planting Ceremony in Lanna Village of Gowa regency, South Sulawesi province, on Saturday (Sept. 9).

He further said, the success of environmental conservation can be seen from the quality of the rivers.

“If the rivers are back in blue, (we can say) the program is successful. Otherwise, if the rivers are murky, it means that the flow area is deteriorating,” said the Vice President.

The Vice President also stated that there must be in embankments in every river that will be damaged over time and could cause landslides.

“That is why we plant bamboo trees which effectively withstand erosion on slopes and have a variety of uses that can be utilized by the community,” he said.

The Vice President also asserted that the cycles in the nature are very well connected one another. If one element is missing, he added, floods, droughts, and other hazards will surely happen.

“We should all protect the environment to make it continuously give benefit to the society,” he said.

Earlier, South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo reported that Gowa regency used to have a paper mill that made use of materials derived from bamboo, but it is closed now.

“We really thank to the Vice President for his instruction to safeguard the environment through the planting of bamboo. We believe this program will be beneficial in many ways, “he said.

Also present at the event were Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya, Minister of Communication and Informatics Rudiantara, Regents and Mayors in South Sulawesi province, Head of the Secretariat of the Vice President Mohamad Oemar, Vice President’s Deputy for Policy Support in Human Development and Development Equity Bambang Widianto, Special Staff to the Vice President on General Affairs Alwi Hamu, Special Staff to the Vice President for Infrastructure and Investment M. Abduh, and Special Staff to the Vice President for Communications and Information Husein Abdullah.