Budget for Marunda dump rejected
Budget for Marunda dump rejected
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Puncak, West Java
The city council rejected on Thursday a proposed budget
addition of Rp 18.5 billion for the construction of a refuse
disposal site in Marunda, North Jakarta.
Chairman of the council's Commission D for development affairs
Sayogo Hendrosubroto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle said the decision was made not only because of the local
residents' rejection of the dump, but also the unclear legal
status of the 71-hectare site.
Hundreds of Marunda residents had twice visited the City Hall,
protesting the planned development of the dump.
The land previously belonged to the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog), but was taken over by the prosecutor's office after a
land-swap scandal involving former president Soeharto's youngest
son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
Another councillor Mukhayar of the Justice Party suggested
that the administration should invest in incinerators.
"For the near future, incinerators would be the best choice. A
new garbage dump would need six months of construction time,"
Mukhayar said.
Separately, acting chief of the City Sanitation Agency Irzal
Djamal said the administration would prepare other alternatives
after the rejection of the Marunda dump.
The administration had earlier prepared a 60-hectare dump in
the Tegal Alur area of West Jakarta, and allocated Rp 10 billion
from the 2002 City Budget for the project, but that also fell
through.
It is now considering a purchase of three incinerators worth
Rp 250 million each.
It was rumored that the council suggested the use of
incinerators because certain members were willing to act as
brokers for the expensive purchases.
Serious trash problems in the city came to a head late last
year after the temporary closure of the city's main dump at
Bantar Gebang in Bekasi, and the issue is not resolved as Bekasi
is threatening to close it again on Jan. 31, if the city fails to
meet Bekasi's demands for the use of the site.
The city, meanwhile, still expects that Bekasi will allow the
city to dump its 25,000 cubic meters of trash per day in Bantar
Gebang.
"We are still negotiating with Bekasi. We hope we
can continue our cooperation," Irzal said.
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Puncak, West Java
The city council rejected on Thursday a proposed budget
addition of Rp 18.5 billion for the construction of a refuse
disposal site in Marunda, North Jakarta.
Chairman of the council's Commission D for development affairs
Sayogo Hendrosubroto of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle said the decision was made not only because of the local
residents' rejection of the dump, but also the unclear legal
status of the 71-hectare site.
Hundreds of Marunda residents had twice visited the City Hall,
protesting the planned development of the dump.
The land previously belonged to the State Logistics Agency
(Bulog), but was taken over by the prosecutor's office after a
land-swap scandal involving former president Soeharto's youngest
son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
Another councillor Mukhayar of the Justice Party suggested
that the administration should invest in incinerators.
"For the near future, incinerators would be the best choice. A
new garbage dump would need six months of construction time,"
Mukhayar said.
Separately, acting chief of the City Sanitation Agency Irzal
Djamal said the administration would prepare other alternatives
after the rejection of the Marunda dump.
The administration had earlier prepared a 60-hectare dump in
the Tegal Alur area of West Jakarta, and allocated Rp 10 billion
from the 2002 City Budget for the project, but that also fell
through.
It is now considering a purchase of three incinerators worth
Rp 250 million each.
It was rumored that the council suggested the use of
incinerators because certain members were willing to act as
brokers for the expensive purchases.
Serious trash problems in the city came to a head late last
year after the temporary closure of the city's main dump at
Bantar Gebang in Bekasi, and the issue is not resolved as Bekasi
is threatening to close it again on Jan. 31, if the city fails to
meet Bekasi's demands for the use of the site.
The city, meanwhile, still expects that Bekasi will allow the
city to dump its 25,000 cubic meters of trash per day in Bantar
Gebang.
"We are still negotiating with Bekasi. We hope we
can continue our cooperation," Irzal said.