Bojong villagers oppose dumpsite construction

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 500 people from eight villages in three subdistricts, including Jonggol, Bogor, staged a rally over the weekend to oppose the Jakarta administration's plan to use land there as a dumpsite.

"We reject the construction of a dumpsite as it would be a disaster for locals," one of the protesters, Triasa Cahyaputra, was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.

The villagers said they were afraid of adverse impacts on the health of those living around the would-be dumpsite, especially pollution resulting from poor maintenance of garbage, as occurred at the Bantar Gebang dumpsite, Bekasi.

Jakarta is scheduled to cease dumping its daily, 6,000 tons of garbage at the 104-hectare Bantar Gebang site late this year.

"We have learned from the bad experience of people in Bantar Gebang, who suffered a variety of diseases, such as diarrhea and respiratory problems. We don't want that to happen here," Triasa said.

The protesters accused the Bogor administration of "conspiring" with the Jakarta government to build a dumpsite at Bojong to replace Bantar Gebang.

The rally was held at Sukamaju village office, involving residents from the villages of Bojong, Cipeucang, Situsari, Singasari, Sukamaju, Singajaya, Cileungsi, Sirnagalih, Jonggol and Klapanunggal.

The protest may lead to a new garbage crisis for Jakarta next year, as the administration has decided to stop using Bantar Gebang and build new dumpsites at Cilincing, North Jakarta, Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, and Bojong.

However, the administration has only just begun building the Bojong dumpsite, and no construction activities have started yet at Cilincing and Duri Kosambi.

Officials said earlier that the garbage treatment facilities in Bojong could only accommodate at maximum 1,500 tons, which fell short of the city's total garbage of 6,000 tons per day.

Jakarta was hit by a serious garbage crisis in 2001, with mountains of rubbish spilling across the city after the one-week closure of Bantar Gebang by the Bekasi municipal administration.

The Jakarta and Bekasi administrations later signed a memorandum of understanding last year to extend the operation of the dumpsite. Under the agreement, Jakarta must pay Rp 14 billion to the Bekasi administration in 2002 and Rp 8 billion this year. This money is supposed to be used on projects to benefit Bantar Gebang residents.