Govt pushes waste management

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)