Dump starts operation, residents lingers
Damar Harsanto and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta/Bogor
The Bogor regency and Jakarta provincial administrations were all set to commence the operation of the new waste processing plant in Klapanunggal, Bojong district, Bogor, on Friday, but as of late afternoon on Friday, no garbage trucks had arrived at the site.
"We will prevent the garbage trucks from entering the facility. We will block the road leading to the plant," a Bojong resident, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post.
Locals have rejected the establishment of the plant amid fears that it would adversely affect their health.
Earlier this year, four Bojong residents were arrested by the Bogor police for allegedly vandalizing a dump truck owned by the Jakarta administration.
City spokesman Muhayat, however, gave assurances that the plant would start operation on Friday as scheduled.
"The initial start-up is important as it will prove that the waste processing facility will cause no harm to the residents living around it. The evaluation of the initial operation will be held on Monday by a joint team from both administrations," he said.
He added that the Bogor regent, Agus Utara Effendi, had written to the Jakarta governor, Sutiyoso, on Sept. 29 to inform him that all the preparations had been finalized, including the provision of equipment and machinery at the plant.
The Bogor and Jakarta administrations signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) earlier this year. The capital city appointed PT Wira Guna Sejahtera (WGS), a subsidiary of PT Wira Gulfindo Sarana, to operate the waste treatment facility. The operator has invested Rp 85 billion (US$9.23 million) in the facility.
The operator said earlier that they were not going to apply environmentally friendly bale press technology -- which compresses waste into dry bales. Instead, they will use an incinerator to burn the waste.
The facility can process a maximum of 2,000 tons of waste per day, much less than Jakarta's daily total of 6,000 tons.
According to Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo, Jakarta had reached an agreement with Bogor regency over the operation of the plant.
"We will take turns using the plant. Bogor gets the first go this week, while we will use it during the second week of October.
"If the operation goes in accordance with the environmental impact analysis on the plant, then there will be no reason (for local people) to oppose the operation of the plant."