Closure of Bantar Gebang dumpsite

Closure of Bantar Gebang dumpsite

From Warta Kota

Whoever expected that Bekasi's mayor would have the guts to stand up to Jakarta's governor Sutiyoso, who is physically bigger than he. Hats off to Bekasi mayor Nonon Sonthanie, who has succeeded in crushing the arrogance of Jakarta's city administration, which -- like it or not -- has been ruled by "warlords".

Nonon Sonthanie's bravery in closing the final dumpsite (TPA) in Bantar Gebang on Dec. 10 was a courageous action to break the power of the Jakarta city administration's senior officials, who have often given the impression of belittling other suburban areas of Jakarta (Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi).

Those senior officials of the Jakarta city administration usually go about as if Jakarta were a rich city and other areas were its poor neighbors, which could be treated as it wished and which always had to take whatever compensation the Jakarta city administration would offer them.

In fact, the philosophy, "Everything can be arranged" no longer prevails, at least in the closure of Bantar Gebang dumping site.

The measure taken by Bekasi mayor has, apparently, been followed by Bogor and Tangerang. They dared to refuse Governor Sutiyoso's wish to dump Jakarta's garbage in those two regions. It's really ironic. When Lebaran is drawing near, people generally receive parcels containing delicious food and beverages but the Jakarta administration has got a present of garbage piling up everywhere, a mountain of trash that will spoil the city's environment. Garbage is increasingly troublesome, especially if it continues to rain in the capital city.

The governor of Jakarta and his staff should, therefore, reflect on this matter and open their minds to improve their performance. They should lose their arrogance and never attempt to underestimate other regions. Let them learn a lesson from the incident!

MA SOEDIRDJO

Bekasi, West Java