Jakarta, Bekasi agree to close garbage dump
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.