Bald tires give city new garbage quandary

Bald tires give city new garbage quandary

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Garbage has always been a headache for Jakartans. After the
tension between Jakarta and Bekasi over the Bantar Gebang garbage
dump late last year and the piling up of garbage due to the
floods earlier this year, people now have to deal a new problem:
garbage trucks running on bald tires.

Sixty percent of the city's 700 garbage trucks are in breach
of traffic regulations as their tires have not been replaced for
the last two years.

The worn-out tires are forcing the truck drivers to drive at
only 30 kilometers per hour so as to avoid accidents on the way
to the garbage dumps in Sunter and Cakung, both in North Jakarta.

"We are not exaggerating the real situation. How can we work
properly if the tires are worn-out like that," said Dodo Suhada,
chairman of the Garbage Truck Drivers' Association in Semper,
North Jakarta, while pointing to the tires of several garbage
trucks.

A number of the trucks parked at the North Jakarta Sanitation
Agency's offices looked in poor shape. The tires were all already
bald.

"We usually receive new tires every October. But I have no
idea why we didn't receive any tires last October," Dodo told The
Jakarta Post on Thursday.

The poor condition of the tires has encouraged the drivers,
particularly in North Jakarta, to threaten the administration
with strike action, demanding that the authorities provide them
with new tires.

"How can they ignore such a very urgent need. Our job is to
serve the public. It is vital in a big city like Jakarta that the
garbage is transported every single day. But why is it so
difficult for them to meet our demands," Dodo complained.

Jakarta Sanitation Agency deputy head Rama Boedi, however,
said that he could take no immediate action as he had first to
submit a proposal to the City Assets Office.

"We have been requesting new tires from the office since early
last year. We sent the proposal in again in January. But don't
ask me why we still haven't got the new tires," he told the Post.

"I know the condition of the tires is very poor, but I can
only advise the drivers to drive slowly," he said.

Governor Sutiyoso had previously promised that a supply of new
tires would be distributed in early April, but the City Assets
Office acting director, Ma'mun Amin, said the tender for the new
tires had yet to be held.

"We'll hold the tender as soon as possible but definitely not
in a very short space of time. We need at least a month to decide
the winner of the tender," he said, declining to state the value
of the contract.

Bekasi had earlier closed down the Bantar Gebang garbage dump
in December before a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by
both Jakarta and Bekasi officials on the reopening of the site.

During the closure, piled up, stinking garbage was seen
throughout the city.

Jakarta must pay Rp 22 billion to Bekasi in return for an
extended agreement permitting the disposal of some five tons of
garbage per day in Bantar Gebang.