Hospitals seek ways to solve problem of waste management
JAKARTA (JP): Hospitals throughout the city are seeking to solve the problem of waste management by setting-up a collective waste treatment plant.
In an interview with The Jakarta Post late last week, the head of the municipal health office Dr. Soeharto Wiryowidagdo revealed that the Metropolitan Jakarta Association of Hospitals (IRSJAM) has proposed a combined solution to deal with the safe elimination of hospital waste.
"They recently asked the government to look into the matter by setting up a joint treatment plant where the hospitals could deposit their waste," he said.
According to Soeharto the hospitals have strong awareness of the issue and would like to tackle the problem themselves, unfortunately financial constraints prevent them from providing the necessary solutions.
"The technology available is not cheap," he claimed.
The municipal administration last year gave hospitals till October to provide a waste treatment plan to deal with the hazardous waste produced by the various chemical product they use.
The deadline was given as part of the Clean River Program (Prokasih), which is trying to address Jakarta's polluted waterways.
Hospitals such as the state-owned Cipto Mangunkusumo general hospital in Central Jakarta, the privately owned St. Carolus hospital on Jl. Salemba Raya, Central Jakarta and the army-owned Gatot Subroto hospital have been identified as major medical- waste producers.
Soeharto explained that in response to IRSJAM's proposal the government has called for the participation of the private sector.
"The government doesn't have the money to deal with it themselves," Soeharto said.
He further revealed that the project is currently undergoing a feasibility study by a private company headed by Mrs. Ummi Lengkong.
October deadline
If the study produces favorable results then the government will most likely support it by requiring hospitals to discard of waste by such means.
Soeharto also said that the October deadline might be extended should hospitals show a concerted effort to adopt a collective solution based on the study.
The government would certainly not turn a blind eye to the efforts taken, he said.
Soeharto said the exact amount of money needed for this project could only be determined after the study is complete.
At present most hospitals do not have waste treatment plants and discard the waste in a number of traditional ways that pollute the environment, such as dumping it into the rivers.
However he pointed out that some hospitals have obtained incinerators to help alleviate the problem.
Hospitals such as Cipto Mangunkusumo and St. Carolus have incinerators while the Pertamina hospital in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, is one of the few that has its own waste treatment plant.
Other hospitals such as the Polri hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, have recently been given Rp 700 million (US$324,825) by Chief of Police Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro to cope with the waste problem.(mds)