House demands closure of Bojong dump<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Members of the House of Representatives recommended on Tuesday
\nthe closure of the controversy Bojong dump in Bogor, south of
\nJakarta, as its presence violated land zoning regulations.<\/p>\n
A team of legislators, set up following violent protests by
\nBojong residents against the dump that led to riots, also said
\nthat the local administration should be held responsible for its
\npresence, while the dump must be relocated.<\/p>\n
Team head Sonny Keraf, from House Commission VII for energy
\nand the environment, said the construction of the site had
\nviolated Bogor Bylaw No. 27\/1998 stipulating that the area in
\nquestion is designated as a residential, tourism and agricultural
\narea only.<\/p>\n
\"Thus, (the Bogor administration) also violated Law No.
\n42\/1992 on land zoning which stipulates that it is imperative to
\nabide by the stipulated zoning regulation,\" the former state
\nminister of the environment said.<\/p>\n
This fact, Sonny added, had even been acknowledged by both the
\ndump users, the Jakarta and Bogor administrations, during
\nprevious hearings with the team.<\/p>\n
\"Besides, the dump is hazardous to local residents as it is
\nlocated near a residential area and could affect their health,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Constructed in 2003, the dump was meant to take in tons of
\nwaste from Jakarta, which had been facing difficulties handling
\nits growing waste of over 6,000 tons per day.<\/p>\n
When fully operational, the Bojong facility would have the
\ncapacity to process 2,000 tons of waste.<\/p>\n
Jakarta currently relies on its Bantar Gebang dump, located in
\nBekasi, to handle its daily trash.<\/p>\n
During the last trial run of new waste processing equipment at
\nthe Bojong facility in November last year, the dump operator PT
\nWira Guna Sejahtera was stopped by angry residents who had
\nearlier attempted to boycott the trial by blocking the road to
\ndump trucks.<\/p>\n
The Bojong residents later gathered outside the site to
\nprotest, but the protest turned violent after several people
\nvandalized PT Wira's office.<\/p>\n
As the police fired shots into the crowd to stop the riot,
\nseveral residents were injured and had to be hospitalized.<\/p>\n
A number of police officers were severely reprimanded for
\nusing force to quell the protest, and several Bojong residents
\nwere detained and tried for causing damage to the dump.<\/p>\n
Members of the Bogor Regency Council have said they would
\nprefer that the dump suspended its operations indefinitely and,
\nif possible, found a new site.<\/p>\n
Since the construction of the site was against the regulation
\non land zoning, said Sonny, the Bogor administration had also
\nviolated government regulation No. 27\/1999 on environmental
\nimpact analysis, which the administration must conduct before
\ngranting an approval for a dump site.<\/p>\n
\"They should have never have given the go ahead to the dump
\noperator without conducting the environmental analysis for the
\nproposed dump site, aside from the fact that there was no
\nmechanism to inform the public on how this dump would affect the
\nneighboring area,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-demands-closure-of-bojong-dump-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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