Garbage still a problem, investors uninterested
Garbage still a problem, investors uninterested
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Waste management in Jakarta is likely to remain a serious problem
as investors are not really interested in the waste-treatment
project and the city administration cannot afford to finance it.
"Waste-treatment programs are costly but are not moneymakers.
Many investors reconsider committing themselves to such
projects," assistant to the City Secretary for Development
Affairs, IGKG Suena, said recently.
Nine companies had signed memorandums of understanding (MOU)
with the administration in 2002 and 2003 but so far they had not
acted on the MOUs.
"They claimed that they were broke and proposed that other
companies finance the project. We don't want that to happen. Any
new investors would affect the existing agreements," Suena said.
The nine companies had submitted proposals on different
waste-treatment technologies from bale-press German technology to
bio-fertilizer technology. However, to date, only PT Wira
Gulfindo Sarana has constructed a waste-treatment facility in
Bojong, Bogor regency, as an alternative. The facility has
undergone a trial period despite strong opposition from locals,
who fear that it might cause environmental damage and endanger
their health.
According to Suena, the number of private companies bidding
for the waste-treatment project was the result of the
administration's policy -- with approval from the City Council --
to encourage wider public participation in waste management and
minimize the city's spending.
"It would be simpler if the city changed the policy by
procuring a waste-treatment facility regardless of the
substantial funds which would be taken from the city budget. Too
bad, the city has not yet done so," he said.
Suena estimated that the city must spend Rp 1 trillion
(US$116.3 million) to set up a high-technology waste-treatment
facility to manage the city's 6,000 tons of daily waste.
He claimed a bank from Spain had offered the administration
last Friday a soft loan of US$200 million to build a
waste-treatment facility.
"The figure is enough to finance the project. We can't take
it, however, because the central government is the one who makes
that decision."
Jakarta has suffered several waste crises, with the latest at
the end of last year, when a contract with Bekasi municipality on
the use of Bantar Gebang dump ended. Bekasi agreed that Jakarta
could continue to use the dump but the municipality
administration and the council continued to disagree on other
issues.
Locals around Bantar Gebang have repeatedly demanded that
Bekasi administration close down the dump due to the significant
pollution it causes, which they say endangers their health.
Complaints of pollution were also voiced by residents of
Cilincing, North Jakarta, earlier this year when the
administration used open land there as a temporary dump.
Environmentalists have urged the administration to replace the
existing landfill system with one that is environmentally
friendly and uses high technology.