City enlists firms to treat waste
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.