New garbage crisis seems unavoidable next year<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Although the Jakarta administration says it plans to stop using
\nthe Bantar Gebang dump by December, it has made no serious effort
\nso far to arrange for the disposal of the 6,000 tons of garbage
\nthe city produces every day after the Bekasi dump's closure.<\/p>\n
Officials here said the administration was prepared for the
\ngarbage problem next year after the end of the lease over the
\n104-hectare Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi municipality. Bantar
\nGebang accommodates most of the 6,000 tons of garbage produced
\ndaily by Jakarta.<\/p>\n
However, it appears to only been developing a dump in one
\nlocation in Jakarta to replace Bantar Gebang, not three locations
\nas it has been insisting so far.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post recently visited the three locations --
\nCilincing in North Jakarta, Duri Kosambi in West Jakarta and
\nBojong (not Jonggol as reported earlier) in Bogor, West Java --
\nto check on progress in the development of the new dumps.<\/p>\n
But it turned out that construction is only underway at one
\nlocation, Bojong, a village close to Jonggol.<\/p>\n
Edi Kuswoyo, a site engineer for PT Wira Gulfindo Sarana in
\nBojong, said on Saturday that construction had started in January
\nand was expected to finish by August.<\/p>\n
The treatment facility will only be able to process some 1,500
\ntons of garbage per day, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The area is large enough to store compressed garbage rolls as
\nwe have some 40 hectares of land here, but the capacity of our
\ntreatment facility will be around 1,000 tons to 1,500 tons,\" Edi
\ntold the Post in Bojong.<\/p>\n
Earlier last week, City Hall spokesman Ahyat M. Awe made a
\nmisleading statement by claiming that the construction of the
\nthree new dumps had been 80 percent completed.<\/p>\n
But on Thursday, Irzal Djamal, assistant to the city secretary
\nfor development affairs, corrected Ahyat's statement and admitted
\nthat it applied solely to Jonggol, where the construction of a
\nnew garbage treatment with capacity of only 2,000 tons per day is
\nunderway.<\/p>\n
The city administration, however, appears to be attempting to
\nmislead the public once again as the Post found no construction
\nwork underway at Jonggol.<\/p>\n
Even if the three new dumps at Cilincing, Duri Kosambi and
\nBojong were eventually to be up and running before December, they
\nwould still be unable to avert a new garbage crisis next year as
\nthey will only be capable of accommodating 3,500 tons out of the
\n6,000 tons of garbage produced daily.<\/p>\n
This means that around 2,500 tons of garbage per day will not
\nbe capable of being treated next year if the Bantar Gebang dump
\nis really shut down.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a number of Bekasi councillors doubted that
\nGovernor Sutiyoso was serious about closing Bantar Gebang, saying
\nthey were convinced he was bluffing.<\/p>\n
The councillors said Jakarta would not be able to deal with
\nits garbage problem without Bantar Gebang.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso and Bekasi Mayor Nonon Sonthanie signed a memorandum
\nof understanding (MoU) last year to extend the life of Bantar
\nGebang. Under the terms of the MoU, Jakarta must pay Rp 14
\nbillion to the Bekasi administration in 2002 and Rp 8 billion
\nthis year. This money is supposed to be used on projects to
\nbenefit Bantar Gebang residents.<\/p>\n
The MoU signing followed a one-week closure of the dump,
\nstarting on Dec. 10, 2001, by the Bekasi administration, which
\nled to a garbage crisis in Jakarta with mountains of rubbish
\nbuilding up all over the city.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-garbage-crisis-seems-unavoidable-next-year-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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