City to fund Rp 29b garbage projects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City administration officials have agreed to finance projects worth Rp 29 billion (US$2.9 million) for the reopening of the 104-hectare refuse disposal site in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, West Java.

The commitment was made on Monday with the hope that the Bekasi mayoralty would allow it to continue using the dump until 2003.

Jakarta promised to build a small hospital near the garbage dump and construct water pipelines in three neighboring villages, Ciketing Udik, Cikiwul and Sumur Batu, in order to minimize the effects on the people from widespread environmental damage caused by the piles of trash.

The city also pledged not to dump refuse outside of the site, as had happened in the past, according to Deputy chief of the City Sanitation Agency Rama Boedi.

The dump was closed on Dec. 10 following the recommendation of the mayoralty council due to environmental damage. The city produces at least 25,000 cubic meters of garbage every day and most of it is dumped at Bantar Gebang.

Since the closure, mountains of decaying trash began piling up around the city, triggering fears of plagues and epidemics.

After a series of meetings, Bekasi mayoralty finally agreed to reopen the dump under certain conditions, or else, it will be closed again on Feb. 1, 2002.

The environmental damage occurred as the sanitation agency merely dumped the garbage in the open, instead of enacting a proper, modern land fill system, which was agreed upon years ago.

The reopening of Bantar Gebang does not really solve the real problems as there are many other things that need to be done by the city to manage the garbage.

The city administration is seeking several alternatives, including the purchase of incinerators, the privatization of garbage management and cooperation with the administrations of nearby Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok. It also plans to involve the residents of Jakarta in handling the problem by ordering everyone to separate organic and non-organic waste.