Council summons dump operator

BEKASI: Bekasi council summoned on Tuesday the operator of Bantar Gebang dump, PT Patriot Bekasi Bangkit, to clarify public reports on its poor waste management.

Secretary of Commission B for economic affairs Muhamad Hasyim Affandy told Tempointeraktif news portal that the councillors had found that the dump's waste treatment facility was in need of repair and that it had polluted the environment.

The dump accommodates almost two thirds of the 6,000 tons of Jakarta's daily waste. The administration pays the operator Rp 52,500 (US$5.83) for each ton of waste it dumps there, and the Bekasi administration receives 20 percent of that fee.

"But the scales are broken at the moment," Affandy said. -- JP