Garbage dump closure plan opposed

BEKASI (JP): Hundreds of scavengers at the disputed Bantar Gebang garbage dump site here had the opportunity on Tuesday to meet with Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso and urge him to disregard a request from Bekasi councilors to close the dump.

Sutiyoso disembarked from a helicopter at about 2 p.m., onto a nearby soccer field to meet with the scavengers.

"Where else would the 15,000 scavengers and their families get money for living?" asked Sudi Hariono.

The dumping site, east of the capital, is owned and operated by the Jakarta administration under an arrangement with Bekasi authorities, who are under the supervision of the West Java provincial administration.

Sudi said all the scavengers and their families, as well as scores of other locals from three neighboring villages, strongly opposed the plan to close the dumping site. He said most people in the area were totally dependent on revenue from businesses derived from the site.

"Only 10 percent of residents, mostly those living at a nearby housing complex, have attempted to reject the presence of the garbage dump," he said.

Sudi said he and his friends would soon hold a mass rally at the Bekasi Council, to demand the newly elected legislators cancel their request to Jakarta for the closure of the 108- hectare dump.

He said that if the councilors refused to meet their demand, the scavengers would press them to resign their posts.

"It's better for the councilors to resign then that thousands of us cannot eat," said Sudi, who claimed to have worked at the heavily polluted site for nine years.

Sudi said that the tons of Jakarta garbage dumped at the site enabled the scavengers to earn an average daily income of between Rp 5,000 (65 US cents) and Rp 10,000.

Sutiyoso was accompanied by Jakarta's development planning board head Bambang Sungkono and sanitary agency head Saksono Soehodo.

The governor and his entourage toured the scavengers' shanties on local ojek (motorcycle taxis).

Payment for their rides was reportedly paid for by the senior member of the scavengers, Iskandar Manik. The amount for the rides of the three VIPs from Jakarta was unknown.

Bekasi councilors recently urged the Jakarta administration, as the land owner, to cease dumping activities and close down the site. The councilors claimed the dump led to heavy pollution in the area, which in turn caused respiratory and skin diseases.

There has been extensive media coverage of associated health problems.

Healthy

In their discussion with Sutiyoso, the scavengers were keen to prove to their visiting guests that they did not suffer health problems from living and working near the polluted garbage dump.

"We're healthy," said Salsah, a female scavenger.

As if intending to prove the scavengers protestations, Sutiyoso also examined the residents' wells which were apparently clean and not foul-smelling.

"It's not as bad as it has been reported. But of course, we would continue giving them free medical treatment," the Jakarta governor said.

Asked to comment on the scavengers' request not to close the dump, Sutiyoso said that he understood their grievance.

"It's a complicated matter. It would be difficult to give them jobs should we have to quickly close the dump," he said.

"Our priority (at the moment) is to restore the environmental damages here."

Some 25 overloaded hectares of the 65-hectares garbage dump, have been covered with soil to extinguish smoke caused by burning trash.

Sutiyoso also revealed on Tuesday that the opening of the proposed new garbage dump in Ciangir, Tangerang, west of Jakarta, was on hold because it was located near the Cimanceri River, which is used by local residents for daily needs.

"We're afraid that the planned Ciangir garbage dump would contaminate the river," he said.

Sutiyoso said he had instructed his officials to also consider the possibility of applying high-technology methods in processing the garbage, which totals 23,000 cubic meters per day.

He said a substantial financial investment would be needed to follow through on such a venture and invited foreign investors to participate in the project. (jun)