Bandung to be garbage-free in vicinity of summit venue
Bandung to be garbage-free in vicinity of summit venue
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung
With the Asian-African Summit (AAS) drawing close, the West Java
provincial administration has decided to move to solve the
serious garbage problem in Bandung city.
West Java deputy governor Nu'man Abdul Hakim said that the
city would be cleaned up starting this Friday, to be ready for the
arrival of hundreds of dignitaries from Asian and African
countries attending the summit on April 23 and April 24.
As of Friday, the amount of garbage piling up on roadsides was
estimated at 160,000 cubic meters.
Nu'man said that the main problem in dealing with the waste
was the absence of a place to dump it.
The city's garbage was formerly taken to the Leuwigajah
dumping site. This site was closed down following the landslide
tragedy on Feb. 21 that killed at least 143 residents.
Nu'man said the provincial administration has decided to
reactivate five old dump sites -- Jelekong, Babakan, Pasir Impun,
Pasirbuluh and Cicabe -- to temporarily deal with Bandung's
garbage. The five dump sites will work 16 hours a day.
"We don't want to create such an embarrassment, presenting our
honored guests with the sight of garbage, piled up and smelly.
We'll prioritize the garbage clean up along the main roads that
will be passed by the official visitors," Nu'man told journalists
after re-launching the Cikapundung River clean up program on
Friday.
Cikapundung River, which flows through the center of Bandung,
is one of the rivers being given priority to be cleaned up. Mud
and garbage sedimentation in the river was estimated to reach 50
tons.
Nu'man said it would cost up to Rp 4.7 billion (US$500,000) to
transport garbage from the city to the final dumping site.
He added that the provincial administration would provide only
30 percent of the transportation costs, while the remaining cost
would be taken care of by the Bandung municipal administration.
In the garbage clean up program, Bandung regency would also be
helping out by providing 27 garbage trucks, while Cimahi mayor
Itoch Tochija has requested the Istana Group developer to
transport 20,000 cubic meters of garbage daily to dump sites.
Bandung mayor Dada Rosada said he has requested assistance
from 200 property, banking and retail businessmen to deal with
the waste problem.
Nu'man said the garbage problem was the administration's first
priority.
He said that if the administration relied on the capacity of
the Pasir Impun dumping site only, the garbage piling up along
Bandung city roadsides might reach 168,000 cubic meters.
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung
With the Asian-African Summit (AAS) drawing close, the West Java
provincial administration has decided to move to solve the
serious garbage problem in Bandung city.
West Java deputy governor Nu'man Abdul Hakim said that the
city would be cleaned up starting this Friday, to be ready for the
arrival of hundreds of dignitaries from Asian and African
countries attending the summit on April 23 and April 24.
As of Friday, the amount of garbage piling up on roadsides was
estimated at 160,000 cubic meters.
Nu'man said that the main problem in dealing with the waste
was the absence of a place to dump it.
The city's garbage was formerly taken to the Leuwigajah
dumping site. This site was closed down following the landslide
tragedy on Feb. 21 that killed at least 143 residents.
Nu'man said the provincial administration has decided to
reactivate five old dump sites -- Jelekong, Babakan, Pasir Impun,
Pasirbuluh and Cicabe -- to temporarily deal with Bandung's
garbage. The five dump sites will work 16 hours a day.
"We don't want to create such an embarrassment, presenting our
honored guests with the sight of garbage, piled up and smelly.
We'll prioritize the garbage clean up along the main roads that
will be passed by the official visitors," Nu'man told journalists
after re-launching the Cikapundung River clean up program on
Friday.
Cikapundung River, which flows through the center of Bandung,
is one of the rivers being given priority to be cleaned up. Mud
and garbage sedimentation in the river was estimated to reach 50
tons.
Nu'man said it would cost up to Rp 4.7 billion (US$500,000) to
transport garbage from the city to the final dumping site.
He added that the provincial administration would provide only
30 percent of the transportation costs, while the remaining cost
would be taken care of by the Bandung municipal administration.
In the garbage clean up program, Bandung regency would also be
helping out by providing 27 garbage trucks, while Cimahi mayor
Itoch Tochija has requested the Istana Group developer to
transport 20,000 cubic meters of garbage daily to dump sites.
Bandung mayor Dada Rosada said he has requested assistance
from 200 property, banking and retail businessmen to deal with
the waste problem.
Nu'man said the garbage problem was the administration's first
priority.
He said that if the administration relied on the capacity of
the Pasir Impun dumping site only, the garbage piling up along
Bandung city roadsides might reach 168,000 cubic meters.