Sutiyoso urges people to burn their garbage<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakartans beware! You may soon be living in a city that may
\nsink under a mountain of garbage and engulfed in a thick, foul-
\nsmelling smoke within a matter of days.<\/p>\n
This nighmarish vision could soon become a reality if city
\nadministration officials fail to find an appropriate location to
\ndump garbage, or fail to develop a better way of handling the
\n25,000 cubic meters of household refuse that the city produces
\ndaily.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday, two days after the Bekasi municipal
\nadministration shuttered Jakarta's garbage dump site in Bantar
\nGebang, Bekasi, most garbage produced within two days was left
\nunmoved, and most of the 800 trucks that normally transport the
\nwaste were not in operation, as the drivers were still uncertain
\nas to where they were supposed to dump it.<\/p>\n
Many of the trucks were still loaded with Monday's trash.<\/p>\n
Apparently panicked and confused by the situation, Governor
\nSutiyoso abruptly instructed his men to take the emergency
\nmeasure of handling garbage in their own areas. He also urged
\ncity residents to reduce their garbage by burning it before
\ndisposing of the rest at a garbage dump.<\/p>\n
It is hard to imagine what will happen to Jakarta if people
\nhere start burning their trash.<\/p>\n
The city's total population by night is 8.9 million. If a
\nfamily on average has five members, there will be 1,780,000
\nfamilies living here. If just a quarter of the total families
\nburn their garbage, then there will be 445,000 sources of thick
\nsmoke that would engulf the capital.<\/p>\n
Anticipate the negative impact of the smoke on your health.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso called the city's mayors, district and subdistrict
\nchiefs to an emergency meeting on Tuesday during which he told
\nthem to handle the problem of garbage in their respective areas.<\/p>\n
Heaps of untransported trash are already imminent in some
\nparts of the city, as many of the garbage trucks still loaded
\nwith Monday's waste have thus been unable to pick up Tuesday's
\ntrash.<\/p>\n
Some new garbage dump locations have been prepared, while
\nothers are being scouted for. Some of the sites, like the Kedaung
\nand Tegal Alur in West Jakarta, and Sunter in North Jakarta might
\nface local resistance due to their close distance to residential
\ncomplexes.<\/p>\n
To avoid residents' objections, Sutiyoso said the
\nadministration would deploy public order officers to secure
\ngarbage trucks disposing of the trash.<\/p>\n
"We have to be all out in handling the problem," he said,
\nadmitting that they were shocked, confused and not ready with the
\nclosure of Bantar Gebang.<\/p>\n
As garbage trucks were lining up at small transit dumping
\nsites on Tuesday, some were carrying trash from the previous day,
\nand most of the drivers were still clueless about what to do,
\nsince there was no clear instruction from their superiors.<\/p>\n
Of the four sites Sutiyoso previously announced, only Cakung-
\nCilincing is ready to take in about 200 trucks daily, and can no
\nlonger take in new trucks, as the five-hectare area is already
\nloaded to the limit with garbage.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the alternative sites in Tangerang and Bogor as
\nmentioned by Sutiyoso have also faced resistance from locals
\nworried about the pollution the garbage might cause.<\/p>\n
"After seeing the long line-up of trucks in Cakung-Cilincing
\non Monday, I took the initiative and drove the garbage to Gunung
\nSindur in Bogor only to get rejected," truck driver Mat Sani, who
\nstill have Monday's waste in his truck, said while queuing at
\nSunter dump.<\/p>\n
Achmad Ferli, an official at Sunter site, said he could no
\nlonger accept new garbage, "because the final dumping site is
\nstill unclear ... if we take the garbage now, it will pile up
\nhere for an uncertain time."<\/p>\n
Sunter site, he said, would be closed until further notice
\nfrom the city sanitary agency.<\/p>\n
Many trucks with Monday's garbage were also seen lining up in
\nfront of the Cakung-Cilincing site. The drivers insisted on
\ntrying to dump the garbage there considering because there was no
\nother site.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sutiyoso-urges-people-to-burn-their-garbage-1447893297",
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