Locals maintain pressure on Bojong plant<\/p>\n
Theresia Sufa and Dyah Apsari, The Jakarta Post\/Bogor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Restless residents were still guarding the controversial Bojong
\nwaste treatment plant in Bogor, following a clash earlier on
\nWednesday with riot police who tried to clear the road block on
\nthe main road leading to the plant.<\/p>\n
Opposing the presence of the plant in the neighborhood which
\nthey feared would cause harm to the environment and their health,
\nthe residents were trying to sabotage the plant's trial run
\nscheduled for Wednesday.<\/p>\n
A team of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
\nvisited the plant in Klapanunggal district later in the day and
\ntalked to the enraged residents.<\/p>\n
Head of the team, rights commission member MM Billah, asked
\nthe residents to calm down as Komnas HAM would look into which
\nbasic rights were being violated by the presence of the dump.<\/p>\n
The visiting team members comprised Risma Halim, the
\ncommission's researcher on civil rights and Eko Dahono, the
\ncommission's investigator.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the residents will not resort to violence to resolve
\nthe matter ... we ourselves have to protect our basic right to
\nlive and not to be tortured. We can always bring the matter to
\nthe government, because it's not only an environmental issue as
\npolitical issues are also involved,\" Billah said.<\/p>\n
The residents have frequently staged protests against the
\nplant. The most damaging was in November last year when the
\nresidents set fire to part of the plant. In the melee, the police
\nshot several people and arrested dozens of others.<\/p>\n
The Bojong plant, which aims to use bale press and incinerator
\ntechnology, was designed to treat one-third of Jakarta's 6,000
\ntons of daily waste. The operator is a private company PT Wira
\nGuna Sejahtera.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the residents' latest protest, Jakarta Governor
\nSutiyoso criticized the residents who he said gave a bad
\nimpression to investors in the country.<\/p>\n
\"Why can't they let the trial run go on? If the result is
\npositive, the plant is there to operate. If it is negative, just
\nclose it down,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The residents have been on guard in the vicinity of the dump
\nsince Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
The dump operator had earlier canceled a trial run planned for
\nJuly 27 as the residents formed a human blockade around the
\nfacility.<\/p>\n
As riot police tried to pull out tree branches and logs placed
\nin the middle of the road, the residents attempted to stop them
\nby hurling stones and Molotov cocktails at the officers.<\/p>\n
The conflict finally ended at about 2:30 a.m. when the police
\nwere recalled from the location.<\/p>\n
The clash was the eighth since the construction of the plant
\nin 2002.<\/p>\n
Bogor City Council also called on the Bogor administration on
\nWednesday not to hold the trial run.<\/p>\n
\"Its presence in the neighborhood is already a violation of
\nthe prevailing laws ... any trial run should be prohibited,\" said
\ncouncillor Lalu Suryade, head of Commission A for legal and
\nadministrative affairs.<\/p>",
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