by Nurul Fitri Ramadhani
JAKARTA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Sobri Nugraha, 52, has collected up to 10 wheelbarrows full of dung from the dozens of cows he sold daily as sacrificial offerings during the Eid al-Adha festivities in Indonesia's Jakarta.
"I will let the dung dry first and then process it into fertilizer. After that, I'll distribute it for free to nearby residents who need it. The most important thing is that the waste is not wasted," Nugraha told Xinhua.
He is following an order from the Jakarta local government to implement "eco-qurban," which refers to properly managing waste from sacrificial animals to prevent environmental pollution.
Agung Asma Nugraha, a 42-year-old resident of Central Jakarta, was a sacrificial committee member. He buried the remains of the sacrificial animals deep underground as the directive has suggested.
"It must be buried quite deep, about two meters down, including the animals' internal organs. Their blood is also buried in a separate hole," he said.
Recently, Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung urged the public not to dispose of sacrificial animal waste into rivers, as it can pose serious health and environmental risks.
Eid al-Adha in Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, fell on Friday. On this day, Indonesian Muslims typically perform communal sacrifices of cows, goats, or sheep, and distributed the meat among impoverished communities in their local areas.
It is estimated that around 69,000 sacrificial animals were slaughtered in Jakarta alone.
On a national scale, Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture recorded that the supply of sacrificial animals during this year's Eid al-Adha celebration reached around 3.2 million heads, enough to meet the estimated demand of 2 million.
Salundik, a lecturer at the Faculty of Animal Science at the Bogor Agricultural Institute, said that the increase in livestock slaughtering during Eid al-Adha should be accompanied by wise waste management. If not properly managed, he warned, the waste could pollute the environment and pose public health risks.
Salundik suggested that waste in the form of feces and leftover animal feed could be converted into useful products, such as compost or vermicompost.
Moreover, waste such as blood, rumen contents, and digestive tracts "carries a higher risk of contamination and requires special handling, especially in densely populated urban areas," Salundik added.
Hasudungan Sidabalok, head of Jakarta's Food Security, Maritime Affairs, and Agriculture Office, reminded all residents and Eid committees in Jakarta to implement the eco-qurban principle during sacrificial rituals.
He stated that solid waste from the sacrificial animals, including guts and blood, should be collected and disposed of at designated locations to prevent environmental pollution.
"Also, do not wash the blood of sacrificial animals into open drains. Use fragrant soap to eliminate germs and odors. If possible, rinse off the resulting blood waste immediately, and apply carbolic acid or other disinfectants to prevent environmental contamination," Sidabalok said. ■
