City seeks Council's aid in dump contract extension

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Sanitation Agency hopes to extend its lease on the 104- hectare Bantar Gebang dump site in Bekasi because Jakarta's waste treatment facilities will only be up and running in the next three years.

Agency head Salamat Limbong said on Tuesday the only facility that would be ready by the end of 2003 is the waste treatment facility in Bojong, Bogor regency. That facility has a capacity of 1,500 tons of garbage per day, far while the city produces 6,000 tons of garbage a day.

Speaking at a hearing with the City Council's Commission D for development affairs, Limbong said Governor Sutiyoso would discuss with the Bekasi administration the possibility of extending the lease on the Bantar Gebang dump.

However, councillor Tjuk Sudono from the National Mandate Party (PAN) said he had been informed that the Bekasi council would reject Jakarta's proposal.

He also criticized the city administration for failing to resolve Jakarta's garbage problems and for not learning anything from the waste crisis that resulted from Bekasi's closure of Bantar Gebang in 2001.

Jakarta had to pay Bekasi Rp 22 billion (US$2.59 million) to resolve the 2001 crisis, which began after Bekasi accused Jakarta of causing environmental damage at the site.

The dispute was only settled after President Megawati Soekarnoputri and State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim intervened.

Tjuk said many cities around the world successfully converted garbage into valuable commodities like fertilizer and octane.

"Vancouver has successfully done this and I told the governor about it after the waste crisis, but there has been no follow- up," he said.

The Jakarta administration has said that it is preparing to open a waste treatment facility in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, that can convert garbage into fertilizer by the middle of next year.

Two other waste treatment facilities in Bojong and on Jl. Cakung Cilincing in East Jakarta will use bale press technology. However, the facility in Bojong is opposed by local residents, who are concerned about the impact it would have on their environment.

The head of general affairs at the sanitation agency, Uno Nurdin, denied a report that Bekasi had agreed to extend the agreement on Bantar Gebang without compensation.

Councillors said they would visit Bantar Gebang before deciding on the issue.