Incinerators effective, but doubt linger<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The development of incineration plants may be the solution to the
\ncity's chronic waste problems, by reducing its dependency on
\nneighboring regions to handle the 6,000 tons of garbage it
\nproduces daily.
\n However, the City Council has brushed off the administration's
\nplan for next year, still haunted by the failure of a similar
\nproject in 2001.<\/p>\n
In the City Development Plan draft, the administration
\nproposed to the councillors a budget worth Rp 400 billion (some
\nUS$ 42.10 million) for next year's incinerator project, which,
\naccording to the officials, could handle 4,000 tons of garbage
\nper day.<\/p>\n
As stated by the relevant officials, the administration was
\ninspired by neighboring country Singapore, which successfully
\ndeveloped incineration plants. It incinerated some 90 percent of
\nits 5,800 tons of daily garbage.<\/p>\n
If the proposal is approved, it will be the largest waste-
\ntreatment project funded by the city budget. Four places -- Duri
\nKosambi and Rawa Buaya in West Jakarta, as well as Sunter and
\nMarunda in North Jakarta -- have been prepared for the projects.<\/p>\n
The head of the City Sanitation Agency has argued that the
\nplanned project would be free of corruption.<\/p>\n
\"Last time we were not prepared, and there was collusion in
\nthe procurement of the machines that involved both officials in
\nmy office and several councillors,\" he told The Jakarta Post over
\nthe weekend.<\/p>\n
In 2001, the city paid Rp 3.2 billion to purchase 10
\nincinerators to be placed in different subdistricts, but they
\narrived a year later.<\/p>\n
Also, the specifications of the incinerators were not as
\nexpected and, thus, they were rarely used. Many of them have even
\nbecome scrap metal.<\/p>\n
The officials are determined to use the incinerators as an
\nalternative to the 104-hectare landfill in Bantar Gebang
\ndistrict, Bekasi, which was opposed by locals who allegedly
\nsuffered skin, digestion and respiratory problems caused by
\nuntreated garbage in the dump.<\/p>\n
In December 2001, garbage accumulated all over the city after
\nBekasi administration arbitrarily closed the dump, as it was not
\nsatisfied with the tipping fees paid by Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The crisis ended after the central government told the Bekasi
\nmunicipality to reopen the dump, requiring that Jakarta pay Rp 14
\nbillion for the use of Bantar Gebang in 2002 and 2003.<\/p>\n
Early this year, however, Jakarta again experienced another
\nwaste problem. This time it was Governor Sutiyoso who ordered the
\nclosure of the dump after he refused to pay tipping fees for each
\nton of garbage disposed.<\/p>\n
Because of the closure, the city was forced to dispose of its
\ngarbage in Cilincing, North Jakarta, without any treatment. The
\ngarbage caused serious environmental damage, including polluting
\nfish farms there, killing tens of thousands of fish and shrimp.<\/p>\n
Such difficulties showed city leaders that the city could no
\nlonger rely on other regions to treat its garbage.<\/p>\n
During 2002 and 2003, the city administration signed
\nMemorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with 13 foreign and local
\nprivate companies that were interested in establishing
\nwaste-treatment facilities in the city.<\/p>\n
Initially, those companies offered various technologies to
\nconvert garbage into commodities like compost, liquid fertilizer
\nand electricity. But nothing came of most of the MOUs as the city
\ncould not afford the tipping fees requested by those companies.<\/p>\n
The only success story was the construction of a
\nwaste-treatment plant in Bojong, Bogor, last year. The
\nadministration agreed to pay a Rp 53,000 tipping fee for each ton
\nof garbage treated in the plant, which had changed from using
\nbale press technology to incineration.<\/p>\n
However, the city could not dump garbage there due to the
\nopposition of locals.<\/p>",
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