Greater Jakarta administrations join forces to manage waste

Greater Jakarta administrations join forces to manage waste

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta

The seven administrations of the Greater Jakarta area signed a
memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the joint management of
about 10,000 tons of garbage produced by 27 million residents of
the capital and its satellite cities.

The MOU was signed on Tuesday at the Ministry of Settlement
and Regional Infrastructure by representatives of the
administrations of Jakarta, Bogor municipality, Bogor regency,
Depok municipality, Bekasi municipality, Tangerang municipality
and Tangerang regency.

The ministry's Director General of Urban and Village Affairs,
Patana Rante Toding, said that during the initial stage, the
seven administrations would establish a joint secretariat tasked
with working out details of their cooperation.

He said the administrations were expected to establish a joint
management or firm to manage all waste produced by Greater
Jakarta.

"The form of cooperation is up to the joint secretariat,
whose members will consist of two representatives from each
administration," he said after the signing.

The effort is being sponsored by the World Bank via the
Greater Jakarta Waste Management Corporation (JWMC), which falls
under the Western Java Environment Management Program (WJEMP).

JWMC team leader Jim Straker said the organization allocated
US$1.5 million for establishing the joint-administrative
cooperation: $1 million for consultation and facilitation,
$300,000 for a landfill and composting pilot project in Depok and
$200,000 for financing the joint secretariat.

The WJEMP's Central Program Support Unit head, Noeradhi
Iskandar, said the fund was drawn from the $20 million in World
Bank loans and grants disbursed for WJEMP projects.

He said the Depok pilot project aimed to improve the poor
image of the landfill system.

"The landfill is actually a good waste management system if it
is implemented properly. It has a bad image because of the
improper implementation of the system at Bantar Gebang dump in
Bekasi," Noeradhi told The Jakarta Post.

Patana said the joint secretariat and the JWMC would
facilitate a more concrete cooperation through the development of
regulations, organizational structure, human resources and
operational procedure, as well as short- and long-term goals.

Bogor regental administration secretary Yuyun Muslihat said
the MOU indicated an awareness among the Greater Jakarta
administrations of the necessity to join forces over the waste
issue.

"We hope all parties will find the best solution to overcome
the waste problem," he said, and that Bogor would be willing to
open a dump if the system was environmentally friendly.

Head of the Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda)
Achmad Haryadi said the capital welcomed the readiness of the six
other administrations to work together in managing waste.

Jakarta, which produces some 6,000 tons of daily waste, has
been facing growing waste issues in recent years because it
relied on Bekasi for its dumps and had been negligent in their
management, which was the responsibility of the capital.