Closure of garbage dump provokes health worries

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

In the rainy season approaches, Surabaya, the East Java provincial capital with a population of 2.4 million, is facing the threat of diarrhea and dengue fever epidemics following the forced closure of a garbage dump in Keputih Subdistrict.

Around 200,000 cubic meters of household waste are being stored in around 400 temporary dumps in the city since the weekend while the collection of household trash has been halted, causing a deterioration in the environment and a foul odor.

M. Yasin, secretary of the municipal administration, called on citizens to manage their household waste wisely while negotiations between the municipal administration and protesters in Keputih continued.

"The Keputih residents' unilateral action in preventing trucks from dumping garbage at the dump is intolerable since it is goes against the interests of the majority," he said here on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 Keputih residents have been blocking garbage trucks from entering the vast dump following the municipal administration's failure to provide a public health center and carry out a regreening program in the subdistrict.

"The municipal administration has broken its promise to residents to provide a public health center, construct dikes and regreen the subdistrict," Fathoni, a spokesman for the protesters, said.

According to the protesters, the municipal administration has not demonstrated its good faith. "We are forced to put up with the smell of the garbage everyday and we also frequently suffer from diarrhea and dengue fever epidemics, but the authorities never listen to our aspirations," he said.

Yasin, another resident of Keputih, said however that not all residents wanted to close the dump and that the deadline set for the municipal administration to provide the social facilities and regreening program was until 2002.

Around one hundred police officers have been stationed near the dump to provide security for the transportation of the city's garbage to the area.

"We want the residents and the municipal administration to hold negotiations about the problem and to prevent residents from turning violent. We should have learned from last year's clashes over the same problem," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Safaruddin, chief of the East Surabaya Police Precinct.

M. Isman, a councillor, conceded that the trash issue had become a chronic problem that was negatively affecting residents near the dump.

"During the rainy season, the municipal administration must stay alert for possible outbreaks of diarrhea and dengue fever epidemics," he said.