No improvement seen by Bantar Gebang residents<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It has been over a month since the city administration and the
\nBekasi mayoralty renewed an agreement on Jakarta's use of the
\ndump in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, but for residents living near the
\nsite, the situation has not changed.<\/p>\n
\"I do not feel that there have been any changes here. Like
\nusual, there still is the bad odor from the dump,\" said a
\n60-year-old resident of Ciketing Udik, whose house is only some
\n200 meters from the dump.<\/p>\n
Jakarta produces at least 25,000 cubic meters of garbage every
\nday, and most of it is dumped at Bantar Gebang.<\/p>\n
It has used the dump since 1986, but Bekasi closed it down
\nlast December due to environmental damage.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Hardianto, 25, who works as an ojek
\n(motorcycle taxi) driver, complained about the liquid that leaks
\nfrom the waste in the garbage trucks along the road heading to
\nthe 108-hectare dump site.<\/p>\n
\"The odor is really terrible, especially during the rainy
\nseason. The stench comes from the liquid that leaks from the
\ngarbage trucks,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added, though, that repair work to the damaged road in his
\narea had begun. He was referring to a two-kilometer stretch of
\nconcrete road that leads to the dump site in Ciketing Udik
\nsubdistrict of Bekasi mayoralty.<\/p>\n
The site is located in Ciketing Udik, Cikiwul and Sumur Batu
\nsubdistricts.<\/p>\n
Residents have long complained about water and air pollution
\naround the area, which has continuously worsened due to the
\nimproper implementation of the sanitation landfill system at the
\ndump.<\/p>\n
The head of the Bantar Gebang operational office, Sentot
\nSuwagiono, admitted that the system had not been implemented
\nproperly.<\/p>\n
\"I do not know the (real) state of the landfill system as the
\narea has all been filled with garbage,\" he said, adding that he
\nhas been working at the Bantar Gebang office for one month.<\/p>\n
Under the sanitation landfill system, layers of certain
\nmaterials, such as sand and geotextiles as well as water pipes,
\nshould be in place before garbage is dumped.<\/p>\n
But the garbage has been dumped out in the open for years.<\/p>\n
Sentot said that there were two main tasks being carried out
\nat the dump site. He said that the Jakarta administration was
\npreparing an area to wash the garbage trucks.<\/p>\n
\"In the future, all trucks coming out of this area should be
\nwashed,\" Sentot added. He also said that the trucks would be
\nequipped with an instrument that would prevent any liquid from
\nleaking onto the road.<\/p>\n
Sentot said that they were also carrying out a pilot project
\nto reduce the foul odor from the garbage while killing fly larva
\nat the same time by sprinkling rice husk ash and chalk over the
\ntrash on a one-hectare area.<\/p>\n
As for leakage from the trucks, Sentot said that private
\nsectors would be involved in dealing with it.<\/p>\n
Under the new agreement between Jakarta and Bekasi, the city
\nadministration has promised to pay compensation totaling Rp 14
\nbillion (US$1.4 million) this year, and to build a community
\nhealth center and local water pipeline.<\/p>\n
The agreement could be extended for another year with
\ncompensation reaching Rp 8.75 billion for 2003.<\/p>\n
Last year the city administration paid Rp 2.5 billion.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-improvement-seen-by-bantar-gebang-residents-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }