Denpasar strives to deal with growing mountain of garbage<\/p>\n
Text and photo by I Wayan Juniartha<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): It was no usual stroll-in-the morning
\nstuff. Forget about a green city park with fresh air and birds
\nsinging. And sneakers, or any other sports shoes, would
\ndefinitely be out of place.<\/p>\n
Industrial-strength boots are what is needed to explore the
\nSuwung Main Garbage Dump, some 15 kilometers south of here.<\/p>\n
It was scorching at only 9 a.m. and the air reeked with the
\nsmell of putrefying garbage.<\/p>\n
A file of garbage trucks entered the facility -- 10 hectares
\nof open fields with makeshift fences here and there -- bringing
\nwith them garbage from every corner of Denpasar city and Badung
\nregency.<\/p>\n
Each truck was greeted by dozens of scavengers, all properly
\ndressed for the job with long-sleeved shirts and wide brimmed
\nbamboo hats, ready to pick out anything that may be worth
\nreselling.<\/p>\n
All the bustle of activity could not hide the fact that the
\nfacility has seen better days.<\/p>\n
A public official at the site revealed how lack of proper
\nequipment and technology, and the ever-increasing flow of
\ngarbage, had stretched the facility to the maximum.<\/p>\n
"The city desperately needs a new dump, or a new method and
\ntechnology to manage its waste," he said, speaking on the
\ncondition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Newly released data from local environmental non-governmental
\norganization, the Wisnu Foundation, showed that in 2000 the
\npeople of Denpasar produced 1,029 cubic meters of garbage each
\nday, a huge 100 cubic meter increase from 1999.<\/p>\n
In addition, 345 tourist facilities in Denpasar produced about
\n344 cubic meters of garbage each day.<\/p>\n
"Without proper management, in one year's time the dumped
\ngarbage will be the size of a soccer field, and as tall as the
\nGrand Bali Beach hotel, reaching 72 meters in height," Wisnu's
\nYoga Atmadja said.<\/p>\n
There was a plan to acquire more land for the facility, but it
\nwas bound to trigger an outcry from conservationists since a
\nprecious mangrove forest surrounds most of the Suwung facility.<\/p>\n
The approach of enlarging the dump would require additional
\nland each year. Wisnu Foundation estimated that by 2010 Suwung
\nwould need another 7.33 hectares, in 2015 it would need 11.5
\nhectares and an additional 16.5 hectares by 2020.<\/p>\n
The administrations of three regencies -- Badung, Tabanan,
\nGianyar -- and Denpasar city recently deliberated on a new plan
\nto build a joint garbage dump. The mammoth facility reportedly
\nwould be built on a barren open field somewhere in Tabanan area.<\/p>\n
Again, there is likely to be public opposition, this time from
\nlocals who are sure to be unhappy about living next to a dump.<\/p>\n
"What Denpasar needs is a new garbage management system. Give
\npeople more responsibility to manage their own garbage. There
\nneeds to be a financial restructuring of the provincial and
\nregencies budgets over the fund for their respective garbage
\nmanagement agencies," environmentalist Made Suarnatha said.<\/p>\n
Community based<\/p>\n
Wisnu Foundation's activists have prepared a model for what
\nthey term a community-based garbage management system, a marriage
\nof community participation and recycling.<\/p>\n
In the system, each household would be responsible for
\nseparating organic and inorganic garbage. The local village or
\ncommunity organization would then organize a way to transfer the
\nhousehold garbage to the temporary dumping site.<\/p>\n
"The village can cover the transportation cost by reselling
\nanything worth reselling of its garbage to a third party, and by
\ndoing so it will reduce the volume of garbage at the temporary
\ndumping site," said Yoga Atmadja.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the government-run garbage agencies would only be
\nresponsible for transporting the garbage from the temporary site
\nto the main dump site.<\/p>\n
"Based on our experience almost 66 percent of the total volume
\nof garbage can be recycled or resold. So only 34 percent would
\nreach the main site," Yoga Atmadja said.<\/p>\n
The good news is that Denpasar already has 167 self-run
\ncommunity garbage management groups, but they do not have
\nsufficient knowledge of recycling. Those groups would be a good
\nfoundation to implement the new system.<\/p>\n
Government agencies do almost all the work in the current
\nsystem, with the community and individual participation being
\nonly 12 percent and 20 percent respectively.<\/p>\n
Another major concern is funding. Suarnatha pointed out how in
\n1998 the government-run Denpasar Garbage Management Agency spent
\nalmost 41 percent of its annual Rp 10.1 billion provincial budget
\non routine expenditure, such as for the salaries of its around
\n1,000 workers, and not on program expenditure.<\/p>\n
"It needs to be immediately restructured," Suarnatha said.<\/p>\n
"The provincial and regency administration should also start
\nallocating more money for their garbage management systems,
\nperhaps by launching incentive programs for private companies and
\nindividuals that have committed themselves to eco-friendly
\ngarbage treatment efforts."<\/p>",
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