Last week on Asia Calling we heard about the desperate state of Indonesia’s Citarum River.

For twenty years, the river has been a dumping ground for domestic and industrial waste, and severely damaged by land-clearing and erosion upstream.

Now the Indonesian government has initiated an ambitious 15-year plan to clean up the river, with the help of a half-billion dollar loan from the Asian Development Bank.

The plan has received mixed responses. Some local NGO’s and activists praise the plan, saying urgent action is needed.

But others say it will only encourage corruption, and negatively affect the lives of poor illegal tenants who will be evicted during the cleanup.

Elise Potaka has this report for Asia Calling.