Bekasi yet to hear probe on dump

Bekasi yet to hear probe on dump

BEKASI: Bekasi City Council canceled on Monday a meeting to
hear the result of the investigation into Jakarta's use of Bantar
Gebang dump conducted by a special team due to the absence of
many members of the council's special committee dealing with the
issue.

The meeting was led by council deputy chairman Abdul Manan and
was attended by only nine members out of 19.

According to a committee member interviewed by Antara, many of
the absent members had lost in the recent legislative election.

Chairman of the investigating team, Wahyu Prihantono,
expressed disappointment with the absence of council chairman
Ismail Ibrahim.

Wahyu said that the next meeting had not been scheduled yet
but he expected it to be held soon as the meeting would determine
whether Bekasi would renege on the agreement with Jakarta to use
the area as a dump.

The investigation was held following public protests over the
presence of the dump who claimed the dumping activities had
severely polluted the area and caused respiratory problems due to
the foul air and diarrhea due to contaminated ground water. -- JP