Bangka governor doubts they will receive Jakarta's trash

Bangka governor doubts they will receive Jakarta's trash

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 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.