London Reconsiders Collaboration with Bandung City Government

Actually, the program has been completed in 2022. However, the Government of London plans to explore cooperation in other sectors.

This was conveyed by the Head of Resilient Cities and Infrastructure, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Simon Stevens, at the Bandung City Hall, Thursday 9 March 2023.

"Actually the purpose of this visit is to discuss priority regional plans for low-carbon infrastructure development in the urban and transportation sectors. As well as explore opportunities for other collaborations," said Simon.

Therefore, the Government of London wants to know the priority programs for the development of the City of Bandung and explore opportunities for cooperation in the future.

Responding to this, the Regional Secretary of the City of Bandung, Ema Sumarna is optimistic that cooperation with London can be resumed. Although indeed in the near future, the position of Mayor of Bandung will end.

"But that doesn't mean that this collaboration ends here. It will be followed up according to our mutual concern. Hopefully it can bring better energy and enthusiasm," Ema hoped.

He explained, there are four sectors that can be explored for cooperation, namely transportation, environment, handling, and the threat of potential disasters.

"The city of Bandung actually has high potential from parking. We can get a PAD of Rp. 200 billion. However, currently we can only get Rp. 9 billion," he explained.

Then, the alleviation of environmental problems and slum settlements is also something to be resolved through this collaboration. In the city of Bandung, 1,500 tons of waste are generated per day.

"There are still many slum settlements in the Wates, Pagarsih, Sadang Serang areas. Apart from that, the potential threat of a disaster in the form of the Lembang fault can occur at any time. If this is not detected optimally, the city is not ready when there is a disaster," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Bandung City Transportation Service (Dishub), Dadang Darmawan said, the Bandung City Government obtained 8 units of government electric center buses.

"The central government has provided us with 8 electric buses. However, the operation has stalled, until now it is not operating," admitted Dadang.

According to the Head of the Bandung City Housing and Settlement Areas, Land and Landscaping Service (DPKP3), Rizki Kusrulyadi, slums in the city of Bandung account for around 20.3 percent or around 400 ha.

“One of the indicators is that clean water and communal waste management are not yet accessible. This is still homework to find communal waste processing technology," said Rizki. (hubbub)**

Head of the Bandung City Communication and Informatics Agency

Yayan A. Brilyana