Bojong treatment plant trial called off, again

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta and Bogor administrations were forced to call off a planned trial of the Bojong waste treatment plant on Monday in the face of fierce protests by residents on Saturday.

Residents of Bojong, Klapanunggal subdistrict, drove away Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Muhamad Taufik and several of his officers on Saturday morning. The officers were attempting to inform residents of the planned trial on Monday.

"We told the police that they did not have any authority to interfere in this problem. Their main job is to ensure security. The authority is in the hands of the Bogor regency council," said Naih, one of the residents.

Residents are prepared to use violence should the Bojong management insist on operating the plant, he added.

The head of the operations division at the Bogor Police, Comr. T. Nurdin A., said the police had recommend another delay in the trial.

"The Bogor Police chief has sent a letter stating that the trial of the Bojong plant should be delayed until opposition by residents abates," he was quoted as saying by Antara.

Sofyan Hadi Wijaya, the president director of PT Wira Guna Sejahtera, which manages the plant, said the company was still discussing with the Jakarta administration whether to go ahead with the trial.

"We are still monitoring the situation in the field," he said.

PT Wira Guna Sejahtera had planned to carry out the trial on Monday after residents of seven kampongs around the plant forced the cancellation of three earlier trials in August, October and on Nov. 1.

A planned trial on Oct. 4 ended in violence when thousands of residents vandalized the plant and felled trees to block access to the dump.

Several non-governmental organizations, including the Jakarta chapters of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment and the Legal Aid Institute, also oppose the operation of the plant. They fear the plant will have an adverse impact on the environment as well as surrounding residents.

Authorities hope the Bojong waste treatment plant can help resolve the waste crisis in the capital and end Jakarta's dependency to the Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi.

The plant would be able to absorb one-third of the 6,000 tons of waste the city produces each day.