City to fund Rp 29b garbage projects<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
City administration officials have agreed to finance projects
\nworth Rp 29 billion (US$2.9 million) for the reopening of the
\n104-hectare refuse disposal site in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, West
\nJava.<\/p>\n
The commitment was made on Monday with the hope that the
\nBekasi mayoralty would allow it to continue using the dump until
\n2003.<\/p>\n
Jakarta promised to build a small hospital near the garbage
\ndump and construct water pipelines in three neighboring villages,
\nCiketing Udik, Cikiwul and Sumur Batu, in order to minimize the
\neffects on the people from widespread environmental damage caused
\nby the piles of trash.<\/p>\n
The city also pledged not to dump refuse outside of the site,
\nas had happened in the past, according to Deputy chief of the
\nCity Sanitation Agency Rama Boedi.<\/p>\n
The dump was closed on Dec. 10 following the recommendation of
\nthe mayoralty council due to environmental damage. The city
\nproduces at least 25,000 cubic meters of garbage every day and
\nmost of it is dumped at Bantar Gebang.<\/p>\n
Since the closure, mountains of decaying trash began piling up
\naround the city, triggering fears of plagues and epidemics.<\/p>\n
After a series of meetings, Bekasi mayoralty finally agreed to
\nreopen the dump under certain conditions, or else, it will be
\nclosed again on Feb. 1, 2002.<\/p>\n
The environmental damage occurred as the sanitation agency
\nmerely dumped the garbage in the open, instead of enacting a
\nproper, modern land fill system, which was agreed upon years ago.<\/p>\n
The reopening of Bantar Gebang does not really solve the real
\nproblems as there are many other things that need to be done by
\nthe city to manage the garbage.<\/p>\n
The city administration is seeking several alternatives,
\nincluding the purchase of incinerators, the privatization of
\ngarbage management and cooperation with the administrations of
\nnearby Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok. It also plans to involve the
\nresidents of Jakarta in handling the problem by ordering everyone
\nto separate organic and non-organic waste.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-to-fund-rp-29b-garbage-projects-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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