Local News

It has been unofficially announced that the Ministry of Land invited Kitakyushu City to assist a private company in improving the sewage water situation in Surabaya, Indonesia. Surabaya is the second largest city in Indonesia with population of 3 million. The city is facing a serious sewage water problem because it lacks a wastewater treatment system. In total, only 2% of Indonesia’s 15 cities currently utilise wastewater treatment systems– a number which the government aims to increases to 20% by 2014. Research is proceeding in Surabaya to ascertain whether the sewage water cleaning system used in Kitakyushu would be feasible in the Indonesian city. An official statement will be issued by March of 2013, detailing the plans and designs needed to move forward with the project. In the past, Kitakyushu City has assisted cities in Cambodia and Vietnam. The city aims to increase international based business by teaching other cities how to implement an effective wastewater treatment system. The Ministry of Land recruited “Original Sekkei”, a design consultancy company from Tokyo, to work alongside Kitakyushu City on the Surabaya project. The total profit of the project is estimated at approximately 6 million yen, of which around 1.7 million yen will go to Kitakyushu City. The main responsibilities of Kitakyushu City include problem solving, assisting Original Sekkei and communicating directly with Surabaya City. Source: http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/item/334185