Binman Toughest Place to be a...

Three British workers - a train driver,

a binman and a fisherman.

They've all accepted the challenge

to do their job in some of the toughest conditions on the planet.

How safe is it to go through the breakers in the boat?

If I said it was tough before,

you could probably times that by 100.

I'm so upset at what goes on here.

I'd like to go and knock them out, to tell you the truth.

Wilbur Ramirez is leaving his job as a London binman

to work on the streets of Jakarta, alongside some of the poorest people on the planet.

There's rats absolutely everywhere.

He'll be swapping his air-conditioned truck

for a hand cart and the sweltering heat.

I don't even think it's coming up to midday yet,

but the sun here is boiling.

And as he discovers a city drowning in its own waste...

I mean, there's actual islands out there of crap.

..Wilbur will struggle to come to terms with a world

where people survive on things we throw away.

This place makes me so pigging angry.

This programme contains some strong language

Hi-ho, off to work we go.

Wilbur Ramirez is a London binman.

Yeah, baby, yeah.

I think binmen are the most important thing London's got,

besides the firemen and the rest of the emergency services.

London's binmen remove more than 55,000 tons of rubbish every day.

Wilbur's been clearing bins from the streets of Hammersmith & Fulham for five years.

His round covers more than 1,600 houses and takes him

from council estates to some of the swankiest addresses in the city.

It is a hard graft.

You can't come in here and not think that you're not going to graft.

Wilbur's day starts at dawn, at the council depot.

This is my lorry.

First stop, pick up the crew.

HORN HOOTS

Come on!

Everyone here has to sort their rubbish

and put the recycling in separate bags.

The rules are strict.

The black bags are your household rubbish, all right?

The orange bags are supposed to be just for recycling.

And for people who don't play ball,

Wilbur's got the might of the council behind him.

We've come to this house, it's got a load of cardboard in the front. They should really bound it up.

I really don't have to take it if it's like that.

I'm going to get Terry to take a picture. If it happens again,

then they could get reprimanded.

But the real villain in the life of a binman is the fly-tipper.

They just dump it there and expect us to take a bit.

Yeah, I don't like fly-tippers at all, really.

They don't have any consideration for anyone. They just cause havoc.

Tell them it's a fly-tip and what do they want us to do with it.

Even the legal rubbish can contain some surprises.

I tell you what, it's amazing what you find in this rubbish, as well.

Nothing wrong with it.

Some people got more money than sense.

Ah-ha, laptop.

Digital camera. These are a dime a dozen. We find these near enough every day.

It's tough physical work,

but the boys are always up for a bit of a laugh.

HE LAUGHS

Great bunch of fellas that I work with. There's a lot of banter.

There's two in there for you... Where is he?

'There's stuff we get up to that we're not supposed to.'

You know, little boy stuff, really.

It's hit and run!

THEY LAUGH

It is a stinky job, so you've got to have something to balance it out.

This is where I love you and leave you, son.

-See you in the morning.

-See you later.

My job? One of the best jobs in the world.

You've got a lot of time. You've got the whole day to yourself.

With his working day usually over by one o'clock,

Wilbur gets to spend plenty of time with his wife Nicky

and the kids Olivia, Maya and Marlon.

What are you washing, darling?

Yay! You washing the lamb?

That's Daddy's girl. Aren't you? Are you Daddy's girl?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

'Family's everything.

'Knowing that I'm providing for my family,

'that's what gets me up in the morning.'

I'm not ashamed in any way that, you know, my old man's a dustman.

I'm proud that he does such a dirty job

and provides for the family.

Now, Wilbur's heading off to another capital city, 7,000 miles away.

I'm really proud that he's going.

I'm just thinking, "What will I cook every night for two weeks?"

I don't know. Thai food, I've had,

but I don't know if that's Indonesia or not.

I'm really baffled of where Indonesia is.

To me, it could be in Timbuktu.

But he's got one final engagement before he goes.

Wilbur's playing a farewell gig with his band for family and friends.

I've never been that far away from home.

It's halfway across the world.

"What have I let myself in for?" was going through my mind right now.

I'm looking forward to it.

Happy days.

Yeah!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia,

home to 28 million people and growing.

It's a city of extremes.

In the shadow of gleaming skyscrapers,

millions live in poverty.

With an exploding population creating more and more rubbish,

the authorities struggle to cope.

On the sweltering streets, open tips fester

and the rivers are choking with filth.

This modern city still depends on just 3,000 impoverished binmen

who scrape a desperate living from Jakarta's rubbish.

Good morning, Jakarta!

For the next ten days, Wilbur will be working with 28-year-old Imam,

an Indonesian binman, and his family.

-Hello?

-Hello?

-Is it Imam?

-Yeah.

-Ah, nice to meet you, man.

-Imam.

-Nice to meet you, Wilbur.

-Wilbur?

-OK?

Children! Nice to meet you, my lovely.

Hello, gorgeous. Hello! Hello!

We're going to be working together, you and me?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

About five years. How long have you been doing it?

Oh, so same? How many people do you work with?

Just one.

Just you?

Bye-bye.

It's time for Wilbur to see where Imam works.

What's all that?

This is a tip? That's where you throw it?

OK. I've got to say, the stench around here is...

It's enough to wake up the dead.

Look at that - flies. It's like, "Wow".

If Wilbur is expecting anything like his hi-tech truck,

he's in for a surprise.

-This is yours?

-Yeah.

WILBUR LAUGHS

There's me thinking I'm going to have a lorry!

The boys will love this back home.

The boys took the mick and said, "You'll have a donkey and a horse and cart."

Looks like I'm the donkey and that's the cart!

HE LAUGHS

Oh, I can't believe it.

Absolutely nothing to what I expected.

A small community of binmen and their families live around the dump,

and for the next ten days, Wilbur will be working amongst them.

Millions of Indonesians live like this - in sub-standard accommodation

without sanitation or clean drinking water.

For his first night, Wilbur will be sleeping in this house

where Imam grew up and where his parents still live.

Boy, see how big it is.

It's not even a full arm's width apart.

It's about eight foot in length.

That's just a room with a bed and a load of flies.

Can't comprehend this. Some of it, it's just...

It's just a lot to take in.

No, it's a bit wrenching.

The parents' house is tiny.

I mean, it's even smaller than my bathroom.

30, 40, 50, yeah, maybe even 100 flies in the house!

You walk in, you've got to get through them to get into the house.

You go over here, you've got the rich.

Big high-rises, big business,

and on this side, it's proper slummy. Proper slummy.

Imam and the other binmen unload the rubbish from their carts

on to this dump.

Council lorries are then supposed to take it away, but they often don't.

And Wilbur is about to learn that Jakarta's binmen

face another familiar problem - fly-tippers.

What are these guys doing?

And they're throwing it on your tip?

Do you often have fights with these people

for dumping their rubbish here?

Your family have got to live here

and these little so-and-sos are throwing stuff on your patch.

I'd get the right hump, I would.

This is the room that Wilbur and Imam will be sharing tonight.

You and me sleeping in here?

Hell, this place is hot.

Is that the bathroom?

THEY LAUGH

It's the same in every language. Yeah!

I'm sleeping next to the shit-house!

I've slept in some places, but I've never slept on a tip.

I've never slept in a tip.

Look, there's a bat, there's some fucking bats everywhere, as well.

Switch off the light, mate, please?

-Hold on.

-OK.

Imam has lived on this street most of his life.

Opposite is an all-night cafe.

There are food stalls, and nearby is a makeshift bar.

In his plywood shack, Wilbur can't escape the noise,

and he's about to meet some of the locals.

WILBUR SIGHS

I can't sleep for buggery, mate. Can't sleep for buggery.

There's rats absolutely everywhere.

There's people milling about outside.

CAR HORN HOOTS

See, that's...

I mean, you must have heard that.

That's how close a car is passing to my head.

Fucking hell!

Today, Wilbur begins his training as a Jakarta binman.

In ten days' time, he will be doing the round all by himself.

You think I'll look bright enough for these boys?

He has brought Imam a bit of London health and safety.

-These are for you.

-Yeah.

-All right? And I'll...

-Thank you.

I'll bring you some more in a while.

I'm going to go to work.

Should be fun.

Imam's round begins on his doorstep.

This is Gunta,

a wealthy residential area near the city's business district.

What's that?

Is that flats or is that a house?

Bloody hell! See how much money there is about the place,

and then there's them living just round the corner in a shack.

IMAM SHOUTS

Imam collects the rubbish from nearly 100 houses

and is paid by the local residents' association.

He works six days a week for about £15.

While some people bag up their rubbish,

most just dump it in a hole in the wall.

OK.

He's scraping out shit, basically.

They've got these little pots between each house

or at the end of the street.

He actually sweeps them out, as well.

Where we going now, mate?

Ah, this. This I can do. I'm used to this bit.

No-one separates the recycling.

Household waste, food, plastic and garden cuttings all end up in the mix.

And he washes them out. Can you believe that?

This man will take for ever.

It's slow work. In two hours, they've only done 20 houses,

and Wilbur's looking for some light relief.

I'm going to teach you a song, mate.

-Yeah!

-Yeah? It's called My Old Man's A Dustman.

-My...

-My...

-Old...

-Old...

-Man's...

-Man's...

-A dustman.

-A dustman.

-# My old man's a dustman

-My old man's a dustman

-# He wears a dustman's hat

-He wears dustman's hat. #

THEY LAUGH

There you go. Come on!

HE LAUGHS

But there's not enough time to mess about on Imam's round.

-You do this, too?

-Yeah.

-Shit!

He also does the drains.

What a load of crap.

Imam is also responsible for keeping the drains flowing

outside his customers' houses.

We've got a department for this.

Imam's in there in bare feet and all sorts doing this.

He doesn't know what's in there. Nothing.

For all he knows, it could be glass.

He's in there with bare feet!

There are no laws protecting Jakarta's binmen

and no help for them if they get injured, either.

Watch the glass. There's glass and everything in there

and this man's feet must be like rhino skin

because it's... He's crazy, man.

Wouldn't do it. And I know Health and Safety wouldn't let me do it.

As the cart fills up, Wilbur begins to feel the heat.

I don't even think it's coming up to midday yet, but the sun here is boiling.

It takes Imam five hours to do the round.

He starts early and works without a break.

This job is a lot more physically demanding than I ever expected.

This thing here weighs a ton, and on top of that,

usually, this is a one-man game. It's me and him today

and I'm sweating like a pig.

With two carts full, one more trip will finish the round,

but Wilbur's had enough.

Oh! Whoo!

That's proper hot.

Tell you what, I'm going to sleep for a week.

In London, once Wilbur's finished his round,

the job's done, but for Imam, there's still hours of work to do.

Paper.

Plastics there, paper there.

The wage he gets from the residents' association barely pays the rent.

In order to eat,

Imam and the whole family have to start their second job -

recycling.

They pick out anything that can be recycled

and sort it into different piles which they bag up and sell.

So, the whole family, hands on deck, everyone's doing it.

They're going through all of it, recycling.

I can't do this with gloves on.

While Imam's family work into the night,

Wilbur has to call it a day.

It's been a bloody hard day and I don't think I even did a full day.

I did two rounds out of his three and I was dying.

They work double hard. Double hard.

Wilbur's come to Jakarta to find out what it really takes

to live as a binman.

Today, he's taking a break in his training

to see how far Imam's pay packet will stretch in the food market.

Is that bean sprouts?

Oh, dried garlic.

Wilbur's shopping with Imam's wife Windi and mother Sumitri.

They don't have a fridge, so they have to shop for food every day.

Believe me, they've got untold different...

Whoa, whoa!

..chillies here.

So, you've bought garlic, you've bought shallots,

and say it again, this is the...?

"Tang-koong." I'll never get it.

I'll never get it, I'll never get it, me.

Right. Really have come to the market, now.

No?

Imam's family rarely buy meat. They can't afford it.

Instead, it's mostly vegetables, rice and tofu.

He did that pretty sharp-ish.

This rice, that you buy today.

How long do you reckon that would last you?

Three days?

She's thinking how she can juggle her money.

Can she afford this, can she afford that?

I can come home and say, "You know what?

"Let's do this tonight. I'll cook Chinese tonight.

"Oh, right. No, I think I'll cook West Indian this night."

Here, it's a different ball game altogether.

It's all about not what can I have, it's can I afford it?

But not everybody has these worries, because Indonesia is booming.

Foreign investors are pouring in,

drawn by a business-friendly government

and a potentially huge cheap labour force.

For the select few, Jakarta is a city of ostentatious mansions,

designer brands and glitzy shopping malls.

But very few Indonesians are living this dream.

More than 30 million survive on a dollar a day.

Some of the poorest have made their homes

alongside the rivers that criss-cross the city.

This is where they do their toilet. Straight bang into the river, mate.

This is the number two factory.

Like most of Jakarta's rivers, this one is heavily polluted.

Only the well-off can afford binmen coming door to door,

so nearly 20% of the city's rubbish ends up in the river.

I've seen filthy rivers in my time, but this takes the biscuit.

I mean, there's actual islands out there of crap.

Over 100 million people in Indonesia don't have access

to clean drinking water.

In Jakarta, the city's sanitation department tries to clean the rivers,

but it can't keep up.

These rivers may be toxic, but for some of the poorest people,

they present an opportunity.

What is that guy doing?

Is he just going across or is he fishing? What's he doing?

Being here has opened my eyes.

It's opened my eyes and tugged at my heartstrings.

Just over that wall, there's so much money,

but the wealth isn't shared. The cars I've seen here are amazing.

Untold different shopping malls and people wearing Chanel, Prada.

I mean, it's here, but those people that haven't got anything, though,

they work near enough, you know, all the hours God sends,

and sometimes that just ain't enough.

It's time for Wilbur to get back to work.

In a week's time, he'll be doing Imam's round on his own.

Early morning, sun hasn't come up really yet.

Still pretty warm, though.

HE SHOUTS

In England, you doing this... This is your own house maintenance, basically.

But he's doing it all for them

and they don't... I don't see them giving him really any thanks at all.

Thank you very much.

Friendly. Real friendly. Not!

What do you think about

the way that you live, right,

and the way that these people live?

Because the residents' association pay his wages,

Imam lives in fear of someone making a complaint.

He said if he doesn't do all this stuff,

these extra little bits and that,

there's always someone to take his place,

so to keep his job, he does the best that he can and that includes,

you know, gets it all actually running,

and as soon as that starts backing up, the community people

would be on his back, so rather than have anybody tell him anything

or having his job in jeopardy, he cleans it up.

HE SHOUTS

HE GROANS

Uphill!

I think you need to have some kind of spirit or else you'd cry.

Back at base, the council dustcart has shown up.

It's meant to come every day, but it rarely does,

so the dump where Imam's family live is never clear.

HE SIGHS

The signs of a proper bin lorry has stirred memories of home.

Probably hasn't got half of the technology

that my lorry's got, but I'd love to know where it goes to.

Is it a landfill or does it all get burnt?

Be nice to have a word.

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN DIALECT

The driver agrees to let Wilbur tag along.

It's a chance for Wilbur to find out where the rubbish finally ends up.

About an hour's drive east lies Jakarta's landfill site, Bantar Gebang.

Wow, look at that shit!

I've never been to this big a landfill. This landfill's huge. How many years has this been open?

Look at it, this is unbelievable.

The amount of people they've got scavenging here.

Imagine yourself with bad guts and then make it 100 times worse

and then you know the kind of smell that's around here.

What first comes to mind when I see this place is danger.

You can... Look at that! You could lose your life here like that.

That... Look, that's about to cover them!

There's people still on top of the fucking pile. He's squashing them up.

Whoa!

Bantar Gebang is the final resting place for most of Jakarta's rubbish,

but it is more than just a rubbish dump.

It is home to about 3,000 people who make their living here,

scavenging amongst the garbage for anything they can recycle.

For some, it's the end of the road

where you arrive when you've run out of options.

Others were born here and may never get out.

46-year-old Lomri has lived here for 20 years.

He's an old hand.

So, is it better to go to work this time of night?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Yeah?

Lomri is looking for plastic bags, bottles and cardboard.

But most of the rubbish that gets here

has already been picked over by binmen like Imam.

The people of Bantar Gebang take whatever they can.

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN DIALECT

-That's the fresh stuff, is it?

-Yeah.

Yeah, well, I thought I was looking for just plastic

and bling, which is bottles,

but I've just found some bone and he put that in there, as well.

They seem to collect bone, as well. Bone seems to be worth money.

The diggers work into the night, pushing the mountain ever higher.

The city's growing population keeps generating more and more rubbish.

6,000 tons arrive every day.

Bantar Gebang is already bursting at its seams.

No-one's quite sure what happens next.

It's back-breaking, it's hot, smelly, sweaty.

The stench is unbearable.

You're walking about in crap, basically. It's a shit job!

-12 hours of doing this?

-12 hours.

He keeps doing it through the night until he's got enough to bag up.

He's been doing it for over 20 years.

He's going to be here for probably another 20 years.

I've never ever seen anything like it.

I hope I don't ever see anything like it again.

I've seen kids as young as nine years old on that tip...

..scavenging.

I can't imagine having my family there.

I'd hate to imagine it.

No-one should have to live like that, nobody.

I thought I was coming out here and all my mates at work...

We're all laughing and joking, thinking it's going to be a holiday

and it's not going to be that hard, but...

..it's one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.

This place makes me so pigging angry.

After another visit from the fly-tippers,

the dump where Imam works is bigger than ever.

Oh, this is the first one?

OK. So, number 42.

OK, let me write that down.

In a few days' time, Wilbur will be taking Imam's place

as the local dustman, and he needs to learn the route.

But before they get very far,

Imam has an opportunity to make a bit of extra money.

What, you're going to cut the branches with that?

This is a cash-in-hand job and the guy's got to do this type of work,

just to earn that little bit of extra dough.

Oh, my good...

HE SHOUTS

What's happening?

Oh, look, shed loads of them, and they've all just got in there

and they're making a nest in his hair straight away. Look, loads of them!

In a city where so many people live off rubbish,

a job as a paid binman is actually highly prized.

Rounds are often inherited from family and friends,

sometimes through tragic circumstances.

He died? Yeah?

He slipped?

-That's it? Right at the back, as well?

-Yeah.

That kind of blows me out of the water.

Totally blows me out of the water. What can I say?

I'm gobsmacked.

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN DIALECT

Healthcare in Indonesia has to be paid for,

so poor people don't always get the medical treatment they need.

I've been trying to work this out in my head.

You're saying ten of your friends have died doing this job

since you've had the job?

What about your future? What do you think about you?

Well, what about your kids? I mean...

I don't know. I really don't know what to say to you.

It's a lot to... It's a lot to ponder on, isn't it?

I'll be thinking on that. I'll be thinking on that.

Whilst Imam seems fatalistic about their future,

his wife Windi worries that their son will follow in his father's footsteps.

SHE SNIFFS

CALL TO PRAYER SOUNDS

For many of Jakarta's poor, the mosque is a place to forget their hardships.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population

of any country in the world.

CHANTING

And after Friday prayers,

the local dustmen often head off to the park for a game of football.

Flushed with success, Wilbur gets a chance to quiz the other binmen.

So, what drove you to be a dustman? Why did you become a dustman?

There must be another job that all of you can do?

I know this is probably a real thick question,

but do any of you have a pension?

THEY LAUGH

I knew you'd laugh in my face!

So, if you haven't got a pension, right, what are you going to do?

When you get older, what's going to happen?

You're leaving it to the gods as well, yeah?

It's all in Allah's hands, eh? OK.

But all it takes is for one of you to have an accident.

What happens... What happens when you lot have an accident?

That's family. That's what you call family.

Today, I think, is one of the best days I've had here, as it goes.

Had a game of football with a few of the lads.

Every single one of them along here

has to do something extra to make a little bit of dough,

and there ain't much round here you can do.

Everybody's doing exactly the same thing,

so you can imagine how tight it is round here.

Talking to Imam today about him being a dustman,

and he has to fight every single day,

every single day to keep his family afloat. It's beyond me.

He's so lovely, the family's so lovely,

and to think they can't get out of this.

For the last few days, Wilbur's been helping Imam bag up recycling

he's found in his rubbish.

Now, we're taking all this stuff

to see the middle man and go and earn a bit of dough.

This here, yeah?

Imam usually walks here with his hand cart,

but today, Wilbur's treated him to a taxi.

Oh, he weighs... This is where he weighs it.

All the stuff that you've got here - what happens to it?

There are hundreds of dealers like this in Jakarta,

where anyone can bring recycling and exchange it for cash.

For very poor people, in a city where begging is illegal,

one bag of rubbish means you can buy your next meal.

Imam's three late nights of sorting plastic have made him £2.

This money is the difference between eating or not eating.

It's just unbelievable to me, what he has to do to earn his money.

If he wants to ever have any more children, right,

can you imagine how hard that fella's going to have to work for,

you know, to put them through school, all the medical,

everything round here costs, every little thing costs.

Around the corner is Imam's friend's coffee shop.

THEY SPEAK IN THEIR OWN DIALECT

Thanks, mate.

Do you reckon you could ever come out of where you're living

or come out of your situation any time?

And you work much harder than I ever will.

You work enough as it is.

How are you going to balance your family life?

If you think the only way you're going to get out

is to have more rounds, you won't see your family.

Why don't you guys, as binmen, get together

and make some kind of union so that you've got some kind of voice?

So, how do you feel about that? It seems that you're expendable.

I know you're doing the best you can, but phew, me personally?

I'd be screaming.

I don't think I could be as humble as you.

I probably would have been banged up by now

cos I couldn't handle that.

I actually think it's got to me more than I ever thought it would.

I mean, the geezer's at work at six o'clock in the morning,

trying to, you know, to provide for his family,

and then going, still doing it at 12.30 at night, to go to sleep,

to get up again at six o'clock and do the same fucking thing all over again.

To be quite honest with you, it makes me fucked off.

I want to fight his corner for him.

-Brother.

-Yeah?

Immense. Immense. You're immense.

Couldn't do it.

I couldn't do what he does.

-Wash room?

-Yeah.

-Lizard! Oh, look!

-What's that?

-Lizard.

HE LAUGHS

There's an air of excitement at Imam's tip.

The city sanitation department has sent a digger,

but it's Sunday today, so no-one's quite sure why.

Bit of a surprise to everyone. All the rubbish is being cleared today.

That's a good thing. Top banana, yeah? All right.

He's well chuffed. I mean, when you take a look up the line,

you see everyone either helping or they're just sitting down watching

cos they're all in complete surprise that it is being done.

The word on the street is the clean-up is because of Wilbur.

How long has that pile been like that?

You've been a dustman five years

and in five years, you've never seen it cleared like this?

Wilbur's realising that his presence is making a difference.

It could be a chance to really change things.

Well, it's worth a try. It's worth a try.

That rubbish that's got cleared there - why don't you get

all your trolleys, all right,

and park them bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam

all along that wall? It stops them from throwing things over

and it shows that you guys are starting to be kind of organised.

If they're not coming here for a week at a time, they're not doing their job properly.

The least they can do is make sure

that them lorries are here every day to pick up that rubbish.

Maybe between all of us we can get something done here.

-We're going to do that?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? We're going to have that.

Let's see if we can do something for you.

I haven't got the answers to everything, right?

But as I say, a little bit of organisation will make people

maybe take them just that little bit more seriously.

Back at Imam's home, Wilbur's helping mum

to cook the Sunday lunch.

Oi! Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo! You can't...

WILBUR WHISTLES

Suddenly, the fly-tippers are back.

You can't be doing that there. That's just been cleared.

You can't be doing that. It's just been cleared.

Tell them to piss off. You lot got to stand up, man.

If you don't stand up, this is going to happen 24/7.

Look how much rubbish he's doing. The man might not come tomorrow.

Wilbur wants to take on the fly-tippers,

and he doesn't understand why none of the other binmen are joining him.

There's so many of them there, why don't they say something? This is where they live.

He's standing there like a mug. Tell him.

You're both here. You both need to say something.

This is not their place to tip, this is your place to tip.

This is where your mum lives.

Wilbur's shouting seems to have frightened the fly-tippers away.

-Go on, tell them to fuck off!

-Yeah.

No, it may be so, but YOU need to tell them to fuck off, not me!

I'm so upset at what goes on here.

I'd like to go and knock them out, to tell you the truth.

It seems the fly-tippers are in collusion with local officials.

If the binmen make a fuss, their homes and jobs could be in jeopardy.

It is so corrupt here, it is untrue.

And caught in the middle,

or caught at the bottom of the pyramid, are them boys in there.

For now, the fly-tippers have gone away,

but it's not long before the lorry reappears.

Knowing Imam's job is at stake, Wilbur tries to keep his cool.

This has been done for the first time in five years, it's been cleared.

At least do it nice for the people.

I know you're going to tip it. Tip it over there, not over there or anything.

Don't smile at me cos I've really got the hump, mate.

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN DIALECT

In less than three hours of that being cleared, look at it already.

You know, you can see they're fighting a losing battle here.

If I make too much of a fuss about it, I could lose them their jobs.

You know what? It pisses me off to the hilt, I've got to say.

It pisses me off to the hilt.

Wilbur is out of his depth.

He's from a world of rules and regulations where one phone call

is all it takes to stop the fly-tippers.

It's a fucking mess!

After the drama of the day, finally, the family settle down

to a late Sunday lunch.

Thank you, Mama!

HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN DIALECT

Quite like that. That's all right.

Today, I might have gone a bit too far.

I started to get really upset and angry.

I don't want to get him in any trouble, but I've learnt that...

I've learnt that when people take the piss out of you,

you've really got to stand up.

And Wilbur's attitude seems to be rubbing off on Imam.

Wilbur's presence has been causing quite a stir in the neighbourhood.

The head of the residents' association which pays Imam's wages

has come to talk to him.

-A lot of the dustmen live down here, yeah?

-Yes.

-And the money that they're getting is...

-Very low.

-Yeah, very low.

So, when do you reckon...

-When do you reckon they might get a pay rise, then?

-When?

-Yeah.

Actually, some neighbours doesn't want to pay that much

and others can pay, are able to pay.

Yeah, but it's not about what they WANT to pay,

it's what they HAVE to pay.

For a community service, you need to pay for it,

someone has to pay for it.

A dustman who has to look after himself,

look after his children, look after his wife

and rent a property, he'll have absolutely nothing to live on.

You're in the big houses up there and these guys down here, you know,

are fighting and scraping for a living. That is just unbelievable.

Why is it that you're letting it happen on your doorstep?

I will talk to the neighbours and we must have a meeting on that.

It's Wilbur's last day in Jakarta and he's had another restless night,

but the training is over,

and now it's time to do Imam's round on his own.

Doing my checks before I have to go out, give him the day off.

That's what it's been leading up to.

Happy days.

Yeah, ready to go, man.

-I'll try.

-Yes.

-Try not to.

-Game on.

-OK. Bye-bye!

43-year-old dustman Wilbur Ramirez from Cricklewood, North London,

is starting his round in Gunta district, South Jakarta.

HE SINGS

He has to collect the rubbish from nearly 100 houses,

and he has to do it all on his own.

HE SHOUTS

HE SHOUTS

He has to sweep, clean the drains, wash the bins,

and he can't afford any complaints from the residents.

Did that one.

One cart down and two to go.

I know how he stays positive.

He's got a beautiful wife there - a young wife,

he's got a beautiful, handsome boy there,

and who wouldn't want to provide for them?

You know, I can understand why he works so hard.

You'd want the best for your family.

HE SHOUTS

I seem to get these wherever I go.

Could open a shop with the amount of them that I've got.

One of the residents seems determined to ruin Wilbur's day,

but for Imam's sake, Wilbur tries to remain calm.

All right, mate, you just make a mess for me.

It's all right. I'll clean up for you.

In London, they take five bags of garden waste, that is it.

Otherwise, you're taking up other people's space on my cart.

He's taken up the whole cart.

I'm getting on with it, anyway. That's the main thing.

Just don't want to jeopardise Imam's job with what I'm doing, you know.

It's back-breaking work.

After five hours without a rest, Wilbur is having to dig deep.

I'm going back now to put this load back, empty it,

come out and finish the round.

So, the sooner I can get it done, the better.

I've still got to go through it all, so I don't want it to be dark and I'm still going through it,

so I'm plodding on.

Two hours later and the end is in sight.

This one here that I'm doing

makes me the happiest man alive right now,

because that means...

..that I've done. I've managed to do all his round.

Yee-haw! That's all I can say. Finished.

Yeah! Finished. Woo-hoo!

Yeah, baby.

-Hey.

-Wil!

Huh? Yeah. All of it. All done. Finished.

Mate, come here.

Wicked. Yeah.

I'm glad you said that cos if you didn't, I'd have been right upset with you!

WILBUR SINGS

Wilbur's ten days as a Jakarta binman are over.

Mama?

He's leaving behind Imam, his family and the tight-knit community on this South Jakarta rubbish dump.

Come here, baby. Mwah! See you later.

Come here, son.

-Good.

-Hey, hey.

Yes, yes, yes, I'm coming. Show her this.

-First aid kit and loads of gloves.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

Ah, come here, baby! Come here!

SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER

You think you're getting away! Argh, come here!

I've got a little surprise for you. I met with the head there yesterday.

Hopefully, I have guaranteed you a pay rise in the next three months,

within the next three months, so I hope that she keeps to her word

and she gives you that pay rise, mate. Yeah? Yeah!

All right? All right.

I'll see you guys!

All of you!

Bit gutted that I'm leaving, but happy, at the same time.

See you later, boys! Yeah?

Six week later and Wilbur's back at work.

But his time in Jakarta has left a strong impression.

Imam, my buddy,

brother, I respect him that much for what he does for his family.

What I learned from him is to be a bit humble,

I think, more than anything else...

..and be thankful for what you've got.

Wilbur realises that there's actually very little difference

between him and Imam.

He's got it up there. He knows where he's got to go, he knows what he's got to do.

The only difference with us - he's born there and I'm born here.

I'd like to go and visit them, visit again one day.

Hopefully, Imam won't be there.

Hopefully, he's gone on to bigger and better things.

Next time, a British fisherman swaps his state-of-the-art trawler

for a dug-out canoe off the coast of Sierra Leone.

I thought we were goners. I thought I was going to go for a swim.

He'll discover a world where one fish can mean the difference between life and death...

-I'll throw him back now?

-No, no, no, no, no, no!

..before confronting the illegal trawlers

at the heart of Sierra Leone's fishing crisis.

Unbelievable - what these guys are getting away with. Unbelievable.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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