Bantar Gebang garbage dump has no permit: Official
Bantar Gebang garbage dump has no permit: Official
JAKARTA (JP): City administration has not yet acquired an
operational permit for the Bantar Gebang subdistrict in Bekasi to
operate as a garbage dump since it began in 1986, an official
said on Tuesday.
Deputy chairman of the city's sanitary agency, P.J. Sugiono
Suwahjo, said the city administration had only acquired a
principal permit from the neighboring provincial administration
of West Java.
"I don't know why, but we have only obtained a principal
permit from the West Java administration after we appropriated
the land for a garbage dump in 1984," Sugiono said.
He denied an allegation recently aired by the Bekasi
legislative council that the 108-hectare garbage dump was
operating illegally.
Common property development practices rule that developers
should acquire an operational permit before they start
construction of development projects. A principal permit only
validates the ownership of the property.
Bekasi councilors last week accused the Jakarta administration
of violating common property development practices. They also
demanded the closure of the garbage dump after all the
environmental damage it caused to the surrounding neighborhood.
Sugiono said the city administration would continue using the
Bantar Gebang subdistrict as its garbage dump site until the year
2004.
"For the time being, we have no other choice but to continue
using the garbage dump site," he said.
He called on people, especially Bekasi councilors, to be
tolerant and avoid issuing emotional statements because Bekasi
residents also used the Bantar Gebang dump as their dump site.
An average of 700 cubic meters of garbage from Bekasi is
thrown in the dump site every day, while Jakartans dispose of
23,000 cubic meters of garbage daily.
Sugiono said the city administration was improving garbage
management in the dump site by, among other things, covering the
trash in the dump with soil.
Bekasi Mayor Nonon Sonthanie demanded, however, that the
Jakarta administration close four of the five zones in the dump
site.
"The four zones are already overloaded. It's no longer capable
to receive trash," Nonon said in Bekasi on Tuesday.
He suggested that the Jakarta administration should now open
the 15-hectare area of the fifth zone.
He regretted that the Jakarta administration had not yet
covered the trash with soil to avoid burning it as announced
earlier.
The mayor acknowledged that Bekasi residents dumped trash in
the dump site free of charge.
The Bekasi mayoralty would spend Rp 1.5 million (US$187.50)
per day if they dumped their trash in the other site, the Setu
garbage dump in Bekasi regency, he said.
Nonon asked the Jakarta administration to build a permanent
community health center in the area to help locals who suffer
from environmentally related diseases.
"A health operation currently conducted from village to
village is not enough," he said.
Thousands of Bekasi residents reportedly suffer from a
respiratory disease. The garbage dump has reportedly also
contaminated the residents' water sources. (jun)