`Cidomo' drivers told to clean up or face suspension

Cidomo - horse drawn carriages - drivers have been urged to keep the region free from dung, or face suspension.

The West Lombok regency administration has been enforcing a regulation requiring cidomo drivers to install bags to hold horse droppings.

"We have started inspecting cidomo in Gerung and Kediri, two of the 10 districts in West Lombok. We are pushing for public awareness about cleanliness, and unruly drivers will face sanctions," West Lombok Transportation Office head M. Djunaedi told The Jakarta Post recently.

Cidomo is a local mode of transportation in Lombok, one of Indonesia's most popular tourist destinations. It resembles delman, or dokar, in Java. The transportation office records at least 1,200 cidomo carriages operate in West Lombok.

Cidomo is regarded to be very effective to meet the transportation needs of the local community, especially those living in rural areas where the carriages usually provide transport services to markets. Besides relatively cheap fares, a cidomo holds more passengers than public vans or ojek motorcycle taxis.

However, their commuting causes concerns, with the horse droppings often dirtying the roads, leading to bad odors, because a large number have not installed bags to contain the dung.

At a market in the regency capital of Gerung, cidomo line up on the roadside, unperturbed by their droppings below them. Passers-by often pinch their noses to avoid the smell.

"Some have installed their cidomo carriages with used rice sacks but they are not effective because the droppings quickly pile up and spill over," Djunaedi said, adding that during the campaign in the past week in Gerung and Kediri, the local administration distributed 100 dung containers to the drivers.

In the near future, he said, they will distribute more than 1,000 containers made of plastic tarpaulin, designed specifically by the transportation office. The West Lombok regency administration will also distribute shovels, coconut leaf-rib brooms and buckets to the cidomo drivers.

"The funds will be derived from the local budget and we expect to have distributed the items in a month's time, so when the dung drops on the street, the driver can go down and scope it."

Amaq Ripah, 45, complained about the dung bags, saying the dung container bothered his horse's hind legs.

"It's harder to steer the horse if it uses the bag, especially when the material is thicker than a normal sack."

He added the dung held in the bag would also make passengers uncomfortable due to the smell.

Ripah hopes the government would also provide a place to dump the droppings.

"It's impossible for us to bring it home or dump it in the dumpster, so we need a place that is easily accessible."

Cidomo is a source of livelihood for Ripah and other residents. Ripah said his brother-in-law took turns to operate the cidomo.

"The income is quite reasonable. We can take home Rp 35,000 *US$3.50* from a half day's work," Ripah said.

With the recently implemented regulations, the administration seems to have refrained from stern sanctions, restricting themselves to reprimanding or having the drivers pick up the droppings.

"But in the future, when everything has been in place, authorities will confiscate the driver's seat and suspend them from operating for a few days," Djunaedi said.

The transportation office is currently filing data on cidomo drivers for administrative regularities. Besides the driving licenses, places of origins are also scrutinized to avoid trespassing in operations.

The case of those from Mataram city operating in West Lombok, for instance, should not happen again, Djunaedi said.

"The inspection and registration is aimed at maintaining cleanliness and road safety in the area."

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The Jakarta Post