Confusion reigns over final garbage destination

Confusion reigns over final garbage destination

Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Garbage truck drivers are uncertain about where to deliver the
city's rubbish following the planned closure of the Bantar Gebang
dump.

Some of them expressed confidence that the site, located in
Bekasi, would not in fact be closed, while others said on
Saturday that they had only heard alternative locations had been
proposed to replace Bantar Gebang, but none had been confirmed.

Bekasi announced earlier that the site would be closed on
Monday but, at the last minute, he was forced to delay the plan
indefinitely following a meeting with Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso,
and officials of the home affairs minister.

"On a normal day I drive the routes assigned to me and deliver
the garbage to Bantar Gebang.. but I think on Monday I will
discuss the situation with my supervisor at the office first,"
said Andang Supriatna, who is in charge of several routes in East
Jakarta.

Through conversations with his friends just a few days ago,
Andang learned that the garbage might have to be transported to
the Gunung Sindur area, in Bogor.

"But are we really going to drive to such a distant place to
unload the trash?," he asked.

Another driver, Bister Pasaribu, who transported garbage from
Cawang to Bantar Gebang, said that he had not received any
notification from his supervisor either.

"I'll just collect the garbage as usual on Monday, and bring
it here. Perhaps it won't be closed after all," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Earlier, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso named several locations as
substitute dumping sites, including Tegal Alur and Kamal Muara in
West Jakarta, Cacing (Cakung-Cilincing) in North Jakarta and Pulo
Gebang in East Jakarta.

However, it seems that only Cacing, which is already a garbage
processing site, is ready to take in the city's waste.

Meanwhile, the scavengers at Bantar Gebang, who have built
their lives around the area, were hopeful that the site would not
be closed as they would have to move to other places where the
garbage would later be disposed of.

"I suppose I just have to follow the garbage to its new
location," said Mathadi Baijuri who has been a scavenger at
Bantar Gebang since the site was established in 1986.

Nonetheless, Damat, the field supervisor officer at Bantar
Gebang, said that no garbage trucks would transport waste to the
dump after midnight on Sunday, as he believed the area would be
closed on Monday.

"Tomorrow will be the last day for any garbage truck to
deliver its trash here," he said on Saturday.