Environmentalist urges action at city dump
Environmentalist urges action at city dump
JAKARTA (JP): An environmentalist called on the city
administration on Monday to stop burning activities at the city's
garbage dump, Bantar Gebang, in Bekasi.
"The burning of garbage is not suggested in sanitary garbage
management," said Achmad Safrudin, executive director of the
Jakarta chapter of the Indonesia Environmental Forum (Walhi).
He acknowledged that burning garbage would accelerate the
decomposition of waste matter, rather than allowing refuse to
slowly decompose.
"But the smoke from the burning of waste matter pollutes the
atmosphere of the surrounding areas," he said.
"The smog -- a mixture of smoke and carbon monoxide -- will
cause troubles for people with asthma."
The afternoon daily, Suara Pembaruan, quoted a doctor at
Bekasi General Hospital as saying on Sunday that smog generated
from burning garbage was more dangerous than emissions from
forest fires in Kalimantan.
"Bantar Gebang's smog contains more poisonous gases, such as
carbon monoxide and methane, than burning forest's smog," said
the doctor, who requested anonymity.
Paulus Agus Winarso, who works as a meteorologist, said the
concentration of smog at the site would increase the temperature
of the surrounding areas.
Paulus, also a member of the National Research Council, said
temperature changes would also affect the health of residents
living in the surrounding areas.
Media reports recently quoted people living in the surrounding
Bantar Gebang areas as saying they had been experiencing troubles
with thicker smog resulting from burning at the garbage dump.
They also complained about their limited vision and respiratory
problems.
Achmad said he was uncertain whether the city's sanitation
agency was responsible for the burning, but suggested the agency
should at the very least work to prevent the burning activity.
"The garbage dump is a closed area. It won't be difficult for
city administration officials to prevent scavengers from burning
the garbage," he said.
Scavengers
The head of the city sanitation agency, Saksono Hoesodo, said
smoke from the burning trash was caused by scavengers who threw
lit cigarettes in the garbage dump.
He said the cigarettes could easily set the 128-hectare
garbage dump on fire and burn the garbage, as methane gas levels,
generated from rotten trash, were extremely high.
"It's difficult to prohibit the scavengers from operating
there. Meanwhile, dry weather could also trigger the garbage
burning," he said.
He said the agency would move the garbage dump to Tangerang.
"In the future, the city will develop a new garbage dump in
Ciangir subdistrict, Tangerang," he said.
Jakarta produces at least 23,000 cubic meters of trash every
day, all of which is dumped at Bantar Gebang.
"Half of the trash could be dumped at Ciangir if its
construction is completed in 2,003," he said.
Achmad called on city residents to help the city
administration act on the garbage management problem.
"City residents should separate recycled garbage from non-
recycled material," he said.
"The garbage dump should then only retain garbage which can't
be recycled, such as food waste.
"Meanwhile, the recycled garbage could be sold to companies
for recycling purposes."
He said Bantar Gebang had a capacity of 12,000 cubic meters of
garbage per day, but that it currently received 20,000 to 30,000
cubic meters daily.
Head of garbage demolition at the garbage dump Prasodjo
confirmed the volumes.
"Everyday 700 trucks release their garbage at the garbage
dump, each of the trucks contains at least 20,000 cubic meters of
garbage," he said, as quoted by Warta Kota daily on Sunday.
(asa/jun)