Marunda dump plan to go ahead<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The city administration has continued with its plan to open a
\nnew garbage dump in the Marunda area, North Jakarta, despite
\nprotests by local residents on the possible environmental impact.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso signed on Monday a memorandum of
\nunderstanding with chairman of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog)
\nWidjanarko Puspoyo to use the agency's land as a garbage dump.<\/p>\n
\"The Marunda plot of land is an alternative site, should
\nBantar Gebang close again,\" Sutiyoso told reporters after the
\nmeeting at City Hall.<\/p>\n
Bekasi mayoralty closed Bantar Gebang dump on Dec. 10, but
\nthen decided to reopen it for one month, after a week of talks
\nthat involved the Ministry of Home Affairs and the House of
\nRepresentatives, pending measures to be taken by the Jakarta
\nadministration to fulfill their agreement.<\/p>\n
Jakarta agreed to pay compensation, which included finalizing
\nthe construction of a hospital and a clean water pipeline in
\nBantar Gebang worth Rp 29 billion (US$2.9 million) for the
\nreopening of the dump.<\/p>\n
The city administration began the project at the beginning of
\n2001 and it should be completed by the end of this month if it
\nwishes to fulfill its agreement and see Bekasi reopen the dump
\nuntil it's contract expires in 2003.<\/p>\n
But last month, city spokesman Muhayat threw cold water over
\nexpectations that it could fulfill the conditions, saying that
\nthey would probably face financial difficulties if the conditions
\nwere materialized.<\/p>\n
Besides the 71-hectare Marunda plot, the city administration
\nis also preparing a 40-hectare plot in Tegal Alur, West Jakarta
\nas another alternative dump.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso called on local residents to accept the
\nadministration's plan to open the dump in Marunda, promising to
\nminimize the environmental impact.<\/p>\n
He said the site in Marunda would use a sanitary landfill
\nsystem similar to Bantar Gebang dump but with a tight control on
\nits usage.<\/p>\n
However, as has been noticed at Bantar Gebang dump, the city
\nadministration has never applied the system seriously.<\/p>\n
About two hours before the signing ceremony, hundreds of
\nMarunda residents visited City Hall, protesting the plan to open
\nthe dump in their area.<\/p>\n
Arriving in 10 buses, the residents said the plan could cause
\nenvironmental damage and disease.<\/p>\n
\"We firmly reject the plan. We don't want to be the second
\n'Bantar Gebang',\" the residents' spokesman, Taufik, said, in a
\nmeeting with Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul
\nKahfi.<\/p>\n
They said that they could not accept that the Marunda location
\nwould be able to accommodate the city's garbage, which amounts to
\n25,000 cubic meters per day.<\/p>\n
However, Kahfi replied that not all the city's trash would be
\ndumped in Marunda, but some of it would be distributed to other
\nsmaller dumps across the city's five mayoralties.<\/p>\n
The administration earlier revealed seven land plots as
\ngarbage dumps in the mayoralties but none of them were deemed
\nready to accommodate the garbage.<\/p>\n
The site in Marunda once belonged to PT Goro Batara Sakti, a
\ncompany owned by former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo
\n\"Tommy\" Mandala Putra.<\/p>\n
The land was exchanged with Bulog's land in Kelapa Gading,
\nNorth Jakarta. Tommy was sentenced to 18 months in jail for
\ncorruption in the land exchange deal two years ago.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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