Councillors kick up a dtink over Bekasi dump operation
Damar Harsanto and Wahyuana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bekasi
Residents' complaints over the presence of Jakarta's dump Bantar Gebang in Bekasi are getting fiercer after its management was handed over to PT Patriot Bekasi Bangkit last August, prompting the Jakarta City Council to put more pressure on the firm.
Ciketing Udik village resident Anen Samsuddin said that the artesian wells, health clinic and the road built by the previous operator, the Jakarta Sanitation Agency in compensation to the residents were broken and remain unrepaired.
"It's difficult for us to get clean water while many of us are still suffering from respiratory problems, diarrhea and skin diseases. Moreover, the garbage trucks block our village roads," he told The Jakarta Post.
In a series of impromptu visits to the dump, the councillors found more flaws in the operation.
"I discovered that the scales in use did not function and mounds of garbage were not covered properly with soil," said the Sayogo Hendrosubroto, chairman of Commission D on development affairs, during the council hearing with the City Sanitation Agency and PT Patriot on Monday.
The company was directly appointed by the Bekasi municipal administration and the Jakarta administration to manage the waste disposal for a two-year term.
Commission D deputy chairman Muhayar Rustamudin added that the company had failed to properly implement the sanitary landfill system in the dump, such as spraying the garbage with pesticide and establishing a treatment plant for organic waste.
"It would be advisable for us to end the contract with the company if it fails to perform professionally," he asserted.
The councillors alleged that the waste dumped at Bantar Gebang was actually much less than the reported 4,000 tons a day as none of the scales that weigh the load the trucks carry were operating, while they had also spotted some garbage trucks dumping their load into the Cakung River and Cilincing Nagrak swamp in North Jakarta.
Jakarta pays a tipping fee of Rp 52,500 for each ton it dumps at Bantar Gebang dump to PT Patriot.
The Post also observed at the dump that hundreds of dump trucks belonging to the Jakarta Sanitation Agency had to queue for hours to unload since PT Patriot only provides six bulldozers.
According to PT Gudang Tua and PT Bonita management from where PT Patriot rents the bulldozers, the dump operator has not paid the rental fee.
Meanwhile, PT Patriot director Indra Bagus Trihardjo shifted the blame to the Jakarta administration which he said failed to pay the tipping fees.
"Besides, we also have to deal with many problems, including the loss of expensive property at the dump, such as 1,330 ventilation pipes and 156 spotlights when we started handling the dump," Indra said.