City denies dumping at Cilincing, saying instead it is rehabilitation

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Sanitation Agency has denied reports it is continuing to use a temporary dump in Cilincing, North Jakarta, saying activities on the site are part of an environmental rehabilitation process.

"The order (from Governor Sutiyoso) is to stop dumping the garbage there," agency head Selamat Limbong told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday at City Hall.

On Monday, the Post observed trucks depositing garbage at the site. Several construction workers were also seen planting concrete blocks around the dump, which they said were to prevent waste runoff seeping into neighboring rice and fish farms.

Limbong insisted no more dumping activities were taking place. He refused to comment further on the issue.

The administration would begin compressing the uncovered piles of garbage at the dump using bulldozers and then cover them with soil, he said. This rehabilitation process would take at least two months.

Jakarta began dumping some of its 6,000 tons of daily waste on a 15-hectare area in Cilincing after the closure of the Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi on Jan. 4.

In less than two weeks, runoff from a huge pile of garbage at the dump had killed thousands of fish and shrimps in nearby fish farms.

Sutiyoso earlier ordered the closure of the Cilincing dump, following the reopening of the Bantar Gebang dump on Jan. 27. He also promised the city would compensate fish farmers affected by pollution.

The city is preparing three new waste management plants at Bojong village, Klapanunggal and Bogor. The plants will use bale- press technology to compress the waste and minimize environmental damage. Each plant can accommodate up to 2,000 tons of waste a day.