Garbage still haunts Jakarta
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration cannot yet breath a sigh of relief despite signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Bekasi municipality for the use of Bantar Gebang garbage dump, since the agreement will not last forever.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso believes the city will automatically be able to use the dump until 2003 because Article 1 of the document says that the city should pay compensation of Rp 14 billion (US$1.4 million), while Article 2 says the compensation for 2003 is Rp 8 million.
But Bekasi Mayor Nonon Sonthanie firmly stated after the signing ceremony on Thursday evening that Jakarta could only use the dump until the end of the year upon the team's approval.
He was referring to Article 8 of the MOU, which states the dump can operate until Dec. 31 this year, upon which the agreement may be extended until Dec. 31, 2003, if an independent team, which will study the dump, allows it.
"We are now agreed that the dump can be used during 2002. For next year it will be decided upon by an independent team," Sonthanie told reporters.
Sutiyoso claimed on Friday that his administration had alternatives planned in anticipation of the eventual closure, saying that the use of high technology in processing garbage would be prioritized.
"We will start using technology from Canada this year to process garbage into fertilizer," Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.
The 2002 city budget allocates Rp 103 billion (US$10.3 million) for sanitary projects that would include cooperation with private companies to develop garbage processing plants.
Last year, the governor and several councillors visited a garbage processing plant in Vancouver, Canada. After the visit, the administration signed an MOU with PT Bio Fertilizer Indonesia (BFI), which will utilize the Canadian technology.
BFI earlier demanded that the administration provide a five- hectare plot of land in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, and the company would invest Rp 54 billion for the construction of a treatment plant.
However, the continuation of the agreement is unclear as the company reportedly has no money to invest.
Two other private firms also offered to process the city's garbage, which amounts to 25,000 cubic meters or six tons per day.