Bojong garbage plan protested
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.