Jakarta, Bekasi agree to close garbage dump
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Authorities have agreed to close the Bantar Gebang garbage dump in Bekasi due to environmental damage but the Jakarta city administration which uses the dump and the Bekasi municipality cannot decide when it should close.
"We could understand and accept the recommendation that the dump should be closed. We need to discuss further the technical and social problems before that happens," City Sanitary Agency head Saksono Soehodo told reporters Friday.
Speaking after a meeting between Bekasi and Jakarta officials, Saksono said among the technical problems which should be discussed, was the processing of liquid waste at the dump to avoid environmental damage.
He said both administrations should also think of the fate of thousands of scavengers who depend on the garbage dump to survive.
"So we could not say when the dump would be closed," Saksono remarked.
Separately, Bekasi secretary M.A. Barmawi said it officially told Jakarta that the 104-hectare garbage dump should be closed.
"The decision is final. But we understand that it could not be closed right now due to some technical matters," Barmawi said.
He said the municipality hoped that the dump site could be closed before the lease expired in 2003 despite a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the two administrations in 1986.
Meanwhile city spokesman Muhayat said the closure of the garbage dump would be conducted within months, but he also could not give the exact time.
The Bekasi council earlier demanded the closure of the dump by the end of the year due to environmental damage caused by the dumping of garbage.
City Governor Sutiyoso has threatened to bring the case to court if Bekasi insisted on closing it down prior to the MOU expiring.
In anticipation of the closure, Saksono said the Jakarta administration was preparing for the eventuality, including buying 18 incinerators and opening former garbage dumps in the city.
He said the incinerators would be placed in the city's five municipalities, such as in Semper, North Jakarta; Srengseng, West Jakarta; Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta; and Senen, Central Jakarta.
Former garbage dumps in Srengseng and Cengkareng, West Jakarta, would also be reopened.
Earlier this month, the city signed a MOU with Bio Fertilizer Indonesia to process the garbage into organic fertilizer.
The city produces at least 25,000 cubic meters of household waste a day, but only 23,000 cubic meters could be transported to Bantar Gebang. The untransported waste is piled up at road sides or dumped in rivers.
Jakarta Council's Commission D for development affairs deputy chairman Ali Imron Hussein regretted the decision to close the garbage dump before 2003.
"Jakarta should take legal action against Bekasi for violating the MOU. It should not be closed before 2003," Ali of the United Development Party said despite environmental problems at the site.
He demanded that Saksono resign for failing to handle garbage problems in the city.
Ali also criticized him for failing to realize the development of the city's garbage dump in Ciangir, Tangerang.
Tangerang councillors had earlier rejected the city administration's plan to dump the garbage in Ciangir amid fears of environmental damage.