City shortlists five companies in waste treatment mega projects

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Jakarta administration announced on Friday that it had finished evaluating at least 123 companies that are interested in developing waste treatment projects in town, and picked five of them to handle the projects.

"We consider those companies fit our requirements and are really intent on being involved in the projects ... They have also confirmed their willingness to hammer out some deals with the administration in the near future," said Jakarta secretary Ritola Tasmaya.

According to Ritola, the five companies will develop and run waste treatment plants in five locations across the city.

"The plants will apply different technology, including transforming waste into bio-fertilizer and bio-methane," he said.

The plants will be capable of treating between 1,000 tons and 1,500 tons of waste per day.

Jakarta Sanitation Agency head Rama Boedi said that the development of the waste treatment plants would end the city's dependence on Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi amid protracted opposition from local residents since 2002.

"Hopefully, we could significantly reduce the volume of waste we dispose of at Bantar Gebang dump and treat our own garbage in town in order to avoid the problem experienced in Bekasi and Bojong," Rama said.

Jakarta has been using the dump for 15 years to dispose more than 6,000 tons of waste daily.

The dump has been operating on and off since 2002 as villagers living in the neighborhood complained of the adverse effects on their health due to the open dumping practice there and demanded the closure of the dump.

The temporary closure of the dump at one stage for a period of one month has caused a garbage crisis in the city, forcing the administration to dispose of garbage at a temporary dump in Cilincing, North Jakarta. However, haphazard dumping led to the death of fish as liquid waste seeped into fish ponds near the dump.

Jakarta's efforts to invite private partner, PT Wira Guna Sejahtera, to develop a waste treatment plant in Bojong, Bogor, also hit a serious snag as the locals opposed the plant over fear of similar environmental woes as happened at Bantar Gebang. Strong opposition of the locals ended up in violent clashes between the locals and police. To date, no trial has been conducted at the plant.

Aside from building those plants, the administration also plans to decentralize waste treatment at the subdistrict level.

The sanitation agency has been allocated a budget of Rp 400 billion for this year.

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Companies

Plant capacity Technology Location

1. Keppel Seghers Group 1,000 tons/day waste to energy Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta

and local partner PT Azara

Putra Perkasa

2. Jakarta Renewable Energy 1,500 tons/day plasma gasification in North Jakarta

3. Kwarta Daya Pratama(Indo-Enviro) 1,000 tons/day waste to bio-methane in South Jakarta or East Jakarta

4. Enviro Green 1,000 tons/day waste to fertilizer in Marunda, North Jakarta

5. Sapta Krida Karyamas 1,500 tons/day waste to energy in South Jakarta

Source: City Sanitation Agency