Bojong garbage plan protested
Theresia Sufa and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Bogor/Jakarta
"My house is only 15 meters from the planned garbage treatment facility. I can't imagine the site being turned into a dump," complained Mimin, 40, a resident of Bojong village, Bogor regency, on Tuesday.
Mimin -- who went to the Bogor regency council building on Tuesday residents of Bojong, Situsari, Ciepucang, Singasari, Sukamaju and Singajaya villages -- said that the water in her well had turned milky and smelly when the site was once used as a ceramic waste dumping site.
Locals are opposed to the Jakarta administration's plan to build a garbage treatment center in Bojong village, even though the facility will use German technology in treating garbage and would therefore minimize environmental damage.
Arriving in 24 trucks and six buses, the people threw garbage around the council's compound to illustrate their displeasure.
Rudijanto Totong, 56, a resident of Citra Indah housing complex in Bojong, said most residents were unaware that a garbage treatment center would be built at the site.
PT Wira Gulfindo Sarana -- who was appointed to run the facility to process 1,500 tons of the 6,000 tons of garbage that Jakarta produces daily -- had told the people that a ceramic factory would be built on the site.
"It's even more disappointing that the village head has ordered us to approve the plan. The village head said that if residents of Citra Indah refused, he would not sign any documents, including our IDs," Rudijanto told the Bogor regency councillors.
Another resident of Citra Indah, Ridwan, questioned why the councillors had so easily given in to the Jakarta administration.
"Why didn't any of the councillors here learn anything from the experience of the Bantar Gebang dump? Why don't you consider our fate? As councillors, you should have visited the location to see if it is appropriate as a dump site," he told the councillors.
"Do you realize that the location is in a residential area? Do you know there's a pond there that should be protected?"
According to Bogor Bylaw No. 17/2000, the location should be designated as a tourism and city development area.
It is considered vital that Jakarta opens the Bojong waste treatment center as scheduled, with the planned closure of a 104- hectare dump in Bekasi municipality in late December.
Construction of two other facilities on Jl. Cakung Cilincing in East Jakarta and in Duri Kosambi in West Jakarta has yet to begin.
Jakarta paid the Bekasi administration Rp 14 billion (US$1.65 million) for the use of the Bantar Gebang dump.
Councillor TL Mujiati of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) responded to the protest by saying that her party as well as Commission D for development would reject the plan and would recommend that other commissions follow suit.
The protest in Bogor was promptly criticized by Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, who accused a real estate developer building near the planned center of "provoking the people to protest the planned dump".
"I think the real estate developer in Bojong is afraid of house prices dropping because the location is close to the Bojong dump," he said after a seminar in Jakarta.
Sutiyoso has assured the public that garbage would not pile up at the treatment center because both organic and inorganic waste would be processed.
"The center's operator will make sure that recyclable items are distributed free to locals, who can then sell them," he said.
Sutiyoso also criticized the Office of the State Minister of the Environment for criticizing his administration's decision to turn the Bojong site into a treatment center for Jakarta's garbage.
"I'm really upset that a high-ranking official in this country would become a provocateur in the case. Where else should we dump our waste?" he said.
Jakarta has signed contracts with South Korea, Canada, Germany, Australia and China to manage its garbage.