Govt pushes waste management
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Partly due to public outrage over recent accidents allegedly caused by dump mismanagement, the government plans to push ahead with its funding program for small and medium businesses to make compost from garbage. The country produces roughly 70 cubic meters (approximately 20,000 tons) of domestic waste each day.
The issue of waste management came up on Tuesday in a seminar organized by the Office of the State Minister of the Environment and the World Bank to address one of the key issues in urban environmental management in Indonesia.
Since its inception in 2001, the program, set up with the support of the World Bank, has benefited only 21 waste management companies due to lack of publicity.
An official of the ministry's information division, Laksmi Widayanti, acknowledged that promotion of the project had been weak and that many applicants could not submit appropriate proposals in line with the standards set by the bank and the ministry.
The US$10 million fund has been provided by the bank with the aim of reducing the country's urban waste by 60,000 tons within three years by disbursing subsidies to eligible compost producers that meet the criteria for assistance.
"In its first phase, $3.1 million is available to promote composting," said Josef Leitmann, environment coordinator at the World Bank's Jakarta office. "It also provides technical assistance to producers for compost production and marketing".
The first phase of the program, which was disbursed in December 2003, was carried out through the Western Java Environmental Project (WJEP), covering West Java, Jakarta and Banten provinces.
"We should look at garbage from a different point of view: that it is not merely a source of problems, but also has potential for developing economic activities," said Rachmat Witoelar, the State Minister of the Environment.
From April 2004 to January 2005, waste management companies participating in the program processed 450 tons of waste a day and produced a total of 20,000 tons of fertilizer.
"If it is successful, the impact would be a reduction of waste by as much as 50 percent, which is now going to disposal sites," Leitmann said.
However, so far only 1.6 percent of the total garbage disposed of here is being processed for use as compost.
Earlier this year, more than 100 people were killed due to landslides at dumps in Leuwigajah and Lembang, both located in West Java. (006)