City admits poor PR in waste case

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration acknowledged last week it has kept quiet its plans for four more waste treatment plants in the capital after strong opposition from locals in areas where plants have already been established.

The administration plans to buy four incinerators worth Rp 1 trillion each to reduce its dependency in the operations of the Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi.

The city been using the dump for 15 years, but since 2002, the disposal of 6,000 tons of daily waste has been protested by locals, who have complained about health and environmental impacts.

"We have yet to convince people that we can treat the waste properly. And, half of that failure is due to our poor public relations (skills)," City Sanitation Agency head Rama Boedhi said during a panel discussion late last week.

He said that none of the agency's personnel had backgrounds in public relations, and none had been specifically assigned to handle the issue or communicate with the people affected by the agency's projects.

"No wonder we continue to get opposition from the locals regarding every project we have," he said.

Strong opposition from the Bojong residents in Bogor, West Java, where a waste treatment plant belonging to PT Wira Guna Sejahtera was built, has meant the plant has not yet opened.

Residents of Marunda subdistrict in North Jakarta and Duri Kosambi in West Jakarta have also expressed opposition to planned incinerator facilities the city administration plans to build there.