City enlists firms to treat waste
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Sanitation Agency said on Wednesday it would engage private sector companies to treat some of the 6,000 tons of waste Jakarta produces each day.
At least six private firms are named in the agency's action plan for waste management from 2005 to 2015. The action plan was presented at a seminar here on Wednesday.
The companies are Keppel Seghers Group, PT Jakarta Renewable Energy, PT Kwarta Daya Pratama, PT Enviro Green, PT Patriot Bekasi Bangkit (PBB) and PT Wira Guna Sejahtera (WGS).
The first four companies would handle waste treatment plants in the capital, while PT PBB and PT WGS would manage the Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi and the waste treatment plant in Bojong, Bogor, respectively.
"We want to involve more people in waste treatment and apply different technologies that are environmentally friendly," agency head Rama Boedhi said on the sidelines of the seminar.
He said bringing in the private sector would end 15 years of centralized waste handling by the city administration.
"Instead, we will only have to pay fees to the companies," he said.
The action plan warns that the city will see its waste problems grow in the coming years because of the growing population.
According to the agency, the capital is home to some 10 million people at night and 13 million during the day. The average population density in Jakarta is 11,244 people per square kilometer.
It estimates the volume of garbage will increase to 6,200 tons per day by 2008 from the current 6,000 tons. Volume is expected to rise even further to 6,337 tons by 2010 and 6,678 tons by 2015.
The administration has allocated Rp 10 billion in the 2006 draft budget for a pilot project to develop five indoor waste compacting facilities in five subdistricts in West Jakarta.
Each facility will take up 500 square meters of area and will be able to compact between 10 tons and 20 tons of garbage a day.
"In the future, we hope to introduce these indoor waste compacting facilities to all 267 subdistricts in the capital," Rama said.