Bantar Gebang to cause damage long after closure

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The closure of Jakarta's Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi at the end of this year will not necessarily mean the end the health and environmental problems suffered by thousands of residents living in three villages around the 108-hectare dump.

The dump's voltage regulator for the liquid waste treatment plant has been out of action for several days now, with untreated, toxic liquid waste contaminating local watercourses and groundwater.

Bekasi councillor Sardjono Saputro said on Wednesday that the Council had asked Jakarta to immediately send technicians.

"We cannot afford for this plant to be out of action any longer as residents' wells are being polluted with toxic waste," he said as quoted by Antara.

At the same time as the breakdown of the voltage regulator, the pump for an artesian well constructed by the Jakarta administration for residents of Sumur Batu village is also out of order, making it even more difficult for villagers to obtain water.

Aside from the liquid waste treatment system and artesian wells, the Jakarta administration is also obliged to maintain a public health center in Bantar Gebang as agreed in the contract signed with the Bekasi administration for the use of the dump.

However, according to Bekasi councillor Wahyu Prihantono, the money needed to buy medicines for the public health center was just disbursed early this month, 10 months later than originally scheduled.

"The delay has caused many residents of Cikiwul, Ciketing Udik, and Sumur Batu being deprived of the health care they need for the illnesses they suffer from, such as breathing problems, skin ailments and dysentery -- all caused by the garbage," he complained.