Bekasi now manages Bantar Gebang

Bekasi now manages Bantar Gebang

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bekasi municipality administration officially started to manage
the Bantar Gebang dump site on Jan. 1, 2004, and plans to process
the waste into compost. It will also involve residents living
around the dump so that they can earn extra income.

"Each subdistrict in the area will be represented by five
people processing the waste into compost," said Bekasi deputy
mayor Mochtar Muhamad on Thursday. Around 500 residents will be
involved in compost production.

Mochtar was speaking during the signing of a memorandum of
understanding between Bekasi and Jakarta, the latter of which was
represented by head of the City Sanitation Agency Salamat
Limbong. The signing was a result of Bekasi's decision on Dec. 22
to allow Jakarta to dump its 6,000 tons of daily waste at the
dump.

In the last two months, Jakarta had been in limbo, as Bekasi
had insisted on not extending the contract because it considered
Jakarta had damaged the environment and endangered public health
around the dump.

The Jakarta administration has allocated Rp 47.5 billion
(US$5.59 million) from its 2004 budget for the dump, of which
some Rp 25 billion will be spent on compensation for the Bekasi
municipality.

Bekasi will also allow Jakarta to treat its waste in the dump
at a rate of Rp 85,000 per ton of waste. The municipality
administration has estimated it could earn up to Rp 500 million
per day from treating Jakarta waste alone.

The waste treatment process will involve officers from the
Jakarta Health, Sanitation, Spatial Planning and Transportation
agencies and the Bekasi Public Works Agency.

"We have two investors -- PT Trimitra and a rector of a noted
university in Jakarta -- who are interested in waste treatment at
Bantar Gebang," said head of the Bekasi Public Works Agency
Tjandra Utama, as quoted by Tempointeraktif news portal.

The Bekasi administration will also build low-cost apartments
for the workers and establish a cooperative for scavengers.

However, people living around Bantar Gebang were disappointed
at the decision.

"The use of Bantar Gebang by Jakarta should have terminated on
Dec. 31. It should not have been extended and handed over to
Bekasi to manage -- it's a lie," said Suwandi.

He argued that the dump did not produce any benefit for
locals.

"The public will suffer from both the environmental damage and
the negative social impact," he lamented.