Jakarta can use Bantar Geabng until end of 2003

Jakarta can use Bantar Geabng until end of 2003

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Disregarding its findings of water and air pollution at the
Bantar Gebang garbage dump in Bekasi, West Java, an independent
environmental impact team conditionally recommended on Friday
that Jakarta be allowed to continue using the dump until the end
of 2003.

"We find that Jakarta can continue to use the Bantar Gebang
dump until next year, but first it should improve the liquid
waste pipes, which have been leaking," team leader Setyo Soemanto
Moersidik said on Friday at City Hall.

The team, consisting of experts from the University of
Indonesia and the 1945 University of Bekasi, was set up earlier
this year following a dispute between Jakarta and Bekasi
municipality over use of the dump.

Speaking after presenting the team's findings, Setyo said the
wells and rivers in three villages near the dump -- namely
Ciketing Udik, Cikiwul and Sumur Batu -- were polluted with E.
coli bacteria and sulfide and iron from the dump.

He said the water pollution was caused by liquid waste leaked
from the pipes meant to transport the waste to treatment
facilities near the dump.

"The water pollution is also caused by several illegal small
dumps that are operated by residents around the main dump," he
added.

He said his team was suggesting the Jakarta administration
repair the liquid waste pipes and close the illegal dumps.

Besides the water pollution, Setyo said the team also found
that the 100-hectare dump was causing air pollution in the form
of smoke and a noxious odor.

"The garbage is not being completely covered by soil, as
required by a sanitary landfill system. We suggest the garbage be
covered by red soil to help prevent the air pollution," he said.

The Bekasi mayoralty closed the dump for a week last December
because of the dump's negative environmental impact.

The closure of the dump, which receives 6,000 tons of garbage
per day from Jakarta, left the city figuratively buried in piles
of its own trash.

The dump was reopened after the Jakarta administration
promised to tackle environmental problems at the dump and pay Rp
14 billion in compensation for the environmental damage.

However, after the agreement was reached the Bekasi
municipality again threatened to close the dump because of the
continuing environmental damage.

The city secretary's assistant for development affairs, Irzal
Djamal, said he hoped the dump would remain open to Jakarta at
least until its contract with Bekasi expired next year.

"We will repair the damage according to the team's
suggestions. We hope the Bekasi municipality will agree to
continue with our cooperation," Irzal said.

Bekasi councillor Chasnul Cholid, who attended the meeting to
hear the environmental impact team's findings, expressed doubt
that the Jakarta administration would fulfill its promise to
repair the environmental damage.

"The problem is not whether we will close the dump or not. But
we see many residents suffering from sicknesses because of the
environmental damage," said Cholid, who is chairman of the Bekasi
Council's Commission A for legal and administrative affairs.

Because of the dispute over the dump, the Jakarta
administration has been working to open new dumps in the capital
and to reach agreements with local and foreign investors to
process the city's garbage.

Reportedly, however, two foreign investors from Canada and the
United States have postponed plans to build plants capable of
processing half of the city's trash because of fear of terrorist
attacks following the Bali bombing.