Bangka doubts Jakarta will keep its words

The Jakarta Post, Bangka

Acting governor of Bangka-Belitung province Amur Muhasim said over the weekend that he doubted the Jakarta Administration would transport its garbage to the islands to refill tin-mining sites there.

"Bangka's regent has only presented the city's plan verbally," the governor told visiting members of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII, which deals with environmental problems.

He said that he still did not believe Jakarta would be able to process the garbage before transporting it to Bangka island.

"I'm not sure that Jakarta will process it into compost or other forms of garbage before sending it here," he told Antara.

Bangka Belitung province, which used to be part of the province of South Sumatra, needs compost for agriculture and as a material to refill its open tin-mining sites.

According to him, processing the garbage and then transporting it by sea would require an enormous amount of money. In addition, residents of South Bangka, particularly in the towns of Koba and Toboali, have rejected the garbage intake, despite there being many open-mining sites in their areas.

In Jakarta, city spokesman Muhayat said that Jakarta and Bangka had signed a memorandum of understanding over the issue last month.

"Now we're making further preparations to realize it," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone last Saturday.

The preparations, he said, include finding a plot of land in or near Tanjung Priok Port to be made a temporary dump for its garbage before transporting it to Bangka.

But he said that the garbage could also be pressed or wrapped in such a way that it could be environmentally safe enough to be shipped to the islands. "We've allocated enough money for it," he added.

The city administration was still undecided over where to dump its garbage after Jan.31. The deadline set by Bekasi mayoralty on whether to reopen Bantar Gebang dump pending the city's measures to comply with new terms is to be signed by both before the deadline.

There have been no positive signs until now, though, that both would secure a deal before the deadline.

The city has even accused Bekasi of blackmail and considered halting the use of Bantar Gebang dump after Jan. 31, claiming that it has already secured alternate sites for dumping.

The alternatives are Bangka island, in the southern part of Sumatra, Marunda in North Jakarta, Tegal Alur and Kamal in West Jakarta.

But, as of last week, none of the alternatives were ready.

With Bangka, it has yet to make sure how it will transport the trash and whether Bangka residents will refuse the incoming garbage or not.

In Marunda, Tegal Alur and Kamal, there were no signs of preparations to apply the sanitary landfill system, as had been claimed by the city. Preparations for the system have included installing pipelines to direct waste liquid to safe tanks.

Residents in the area have rejected the plan and have set their conditions, should it be realized, which include the construction of health facilities and a high wall to isolate the dump from the surrounding residential areas, as well as the provision of an appropriate amount of compensation to those adversely affected.