Bantar Gebang to reopen soon: Sutiyoso
Bantar Gebang to reopen soon: Sutiyoso
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite the absence of a concrete agreement with the Bekasi
mayoralty, Governor Sutiyoso expressed optimism on Friday that
Bantar Gebang dump would be reopened soon.
Members of Bekasi mayoralty legislative council (DPRD) were
still holding a meeting late on Friday evening to decide whether
or not Bantar Gebang dump would be reopened.
Meanwhile, tons of garbage has been steadily piling up
uncollected throughout Jakarta, raising fears of cholera,
dysentery as well as diarrhea outbreaks in the city.
Briefing the media after a series of meetings, with the
Ministry of Home Affairs and House of Representatives Commission
VIII, Sutiyoso said Bantar Gebang dump, which has been closed
since Monday due to environmental concerns, would be reopened
soon.
"Bantar Gebang dump will be reopened. If it's not tonight, it
will be tomorrow," Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.
Sutiyoso also promised to fulfill all conditions required by
Bekasi authorities, including building a hospital and paying
adequate compensation, should the 104-hectare dump be reopened.
Agusman Effendy, deputy chairman of House Commission VIII,
which supervises environmental affairs, shared Sutiyoso's
optimism, telling the media that Bantar Gebang dump would reopen
in the next few hours.
Public relations officer of Bekasi mayoralty Cecep Sutanti
announced that Bekasi council members were holding a meeting to
decide whether they would stand by their earlier recommendation
to close the dump or to revoke it.
"We are ready to reopen the garbage dump if council members
revoke their earlier recommendation," Cecep told The Jakarta
Post.
Last Thursday, House Commission VII, led by deputy House
Speaker A.M. Fatwa, allegedly met with Bekasi officials to
convince them that the garbage issue did not concern Jakarta's
administration alone.
Speaking after a meeting with Ministry of Home Affairs
officials, Bekasi DPRD Chairman Ismail Ibrahim hinted on
Wednesday that the dump might be reopened, but refused to mention
any specific time.
Bekasi seems to have weakened its position as the mayoralty
had difficulty in disposing of its own waste. Before the dump's
closure, the mayoralty had also dumped its trash at Bantar
Gebang.
After the closure, the mayoralty dumped its trash at Bekasi
regency dump site, which met objections by regency officials.
Jakarta declared "a trash emergency" following the closure of
Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi on Monday. Scattered garbage has
been strewn on roads everywhere since then and hundreds of
garbage trucks loaded with trash remain with nowhere to go.
Meanwhile, Jakarta city administration signed on Friday a
memorandum of understanding with Bangka regency in Bangka-
Belitung province, just off South Sumatra, under which Jakarta
would send garbage totaling 4,000 tons a day to the regency where
the trash would be used to cover tin mines.
"If we could give the trash away for free, we would be glad,"
Sutiyoso said.
Jakarta produces 6,000 tons of trash a day, of which some
5,000 tons are dumped at Bantar Gebang Garbage dump. The
remaining amount is left scattered on roads and in rivers.