Four arrested in protest as police guard Bojong dump
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Four Bojong residents have been arrested by the Bogor Police following a protest and vandalism by locals to a dump truck owned by the Jakarta administration late on Tuesday.
An eyewitness, Ipang, said that the incident was sparked by the arrival of two dump trucks to the nearby Bojong dump in Bogor regency on Tuesday at about 11 p.m.
The locals, who had protested against use of the land as a dump since last year, started to block the road leading to the dump using large stones and trees. They even damaged one of two trucks, which was empty, before it managed to enter the dump site.
"The angry mob blocked the road and damaged the truck because they brought the waste here at around midnight. That was really inconsiderate," said Ipang.
"All we want is a clean environment. We lead hard lives. Please, don't make it worse by using our area as a dump. It will only spread disease to the residents."
Bogor Police officers, who escorted the trucks, fired their weapons into the air, forcing the locals to run for safety. The officers then arrested Saat, 55, Sanat, 40, Ajim, 25, and Soleh, 35. They were questioned at Bogor Police precinct.
Due to the attack, the police have deployed two platoons of civilian guards around the dump.
The Bogor and Jakarta administrations signed a memorandum of understanding 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 in the facility.
Although the operator ensured the locals on use of the Rp 4 billion (US$476,190) bale press technology -- which they claim as environmentally friendly as it would not leave piles of waste -- the locals still did not believe it. The facility could only process nonorganic waste, and therefore still required the waste to be sorted first.
The facility can process only a maximum of 2,000 tons of waste per day, way below Jakarta's daily total of 6,000 tons. Between 60 and 80 trucks, each with a capacity of 20 tons to 25 tons, will transport the waste to the dump.
With a processing fee of Rp 53,500 per ton of waste, as stated by the Jakarta administration, PT WGS will receive Rp 38.5 billion per year.
From that amount, Rp 1 billion will go to Bogor regency as compensation. The figure is peanuts compared with the Rp 23 billion given to Bekasi municipality as compensation for Jakarta's Bantar Gebang dump.