Bekasi says no to Jakarta on dumpsite

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Bekasi municipal administration declined to respond to the Jakarta administration's hope to extend its contract for the 104- hectare Bantar Gebang dump. The decision will likely cause a waste crisis for Jakartans in the near future.

Bekasi's final decision to close the dump, which has been used by Jakarta since 1986, was made at a meeting between the two administrations on Tuesday, chaired by Bekasi Deputy Mayor Mochtar Muhammad.

The meeting also ruled out any possible renegotiations with Jakarta.

"The Bantar Gebang dump is closed... It is not necessary to discuss (it) with the Jakarta administration," said Bekasi City Hall law and order head Aos Kaosari in the summary of the meeting, which will be submitted to Bekasi Mayor Akhmad Zulfaih.

Mochtar had said earlier that the Jakarta administration had failed to regreen Bantar Gebang dump, in accordance with an agreement signed by both parties in early 2002.

The meeting also disclosed that the decision to close down Bantar Gebang was based on complaints by locals, who had reported to district officials on the environmental damage caused by the waste there.

Governor Sutiyoso said on Thursday that the agreement could have been extended, as it was for the benefit of mutual cooperation between Bekasi and Jakarta.

"But, as it is Bekasi's decision, I can do nothing," he said, adding that he would ask the City Sanitation Agency to be ready to ready an alternative waste facility within two months.

Sutiyoso had earlier said that his administration had prepared adequate waste treatment facilities to handle the city's 6,000 tons of daily garbage.

He later corrected his statement and said Jakarta would still need Bantar Gebang, because of the city agency's poor performance in preparing waste treatment facilities.

So far, the agency has only managed to prepare a facility in Bojong village, Klapanunggal subdistrict, Bogor regency, which has a capacity of 1,500 tons of garbage per day.

The plan to use Bojong as a dump site has been opposed by local villagers.

The agency had also said the city would have two other waste treatment facilities in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, and on Jl. Cakung Cilincing, East Jakarta. While neither will be ready by early next year, the facilities only have a capacity of 1,000 tons each, and are thus insufficient to handle the capital's waste volume.

Jakarta experienced a waste crisis in late 2001, when Bekasi closed Bantar Gebang dump, also for environmental concerns. Waste was left unloaded on street corners, and piled up in neighborhoods throughout the city.

The crisis ended after President Megawati Soekarnoputri intervened. In the end, Jakarta agreed to pay Rp 22 billion (US$2.59 million) to Bekasi, of which Rp 14 billion was paid in 2002 and the remaining Rp 8 billion this year.

The money was used to improve the infrastructure in villages around the Bantar Gebang dump and to construct a health clinic.