Jakarta seeks continued use of Bantar Gebang

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Getting rid of rubbish is difficult, especially when it is garbage produced by a city of more than eight million people, like Jakarta. If the garbage were put into trucks they would take up the entire length of Jl Thamrin and Jl Sudirman.

The daily amount of waste produced by the city amounts to 6,000 tons. Early last month the city was haunted by the specter of accumulating garbage for days and the resultant threat of disease was real.

The city's headache has been discernible, as it keeps on switching plans for alternative dumpsites, following the closure of its customary site at Bantar Gebang in Bekasi.

Alternative locations include Marunda, Sunter, Tegal Alur, Kamal, all in Jakarta, and also far-flung Bangka island. At present the Jakarta administration believes it should stick to its 104-hectare dumpsite at Bantar Gebang, at least until the end of 2002.

This confidence is indicated by the administration's response to the Bekasi mayoralty's demands, city spokesman Muhayat told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"We are optimistic that Bantar Gebang will be kept open until the end of 2002," he said, adding that both authorities were continuing to hold meetings concerning the problem.

So far, the administration has provided three school buildings and one community health clinic, sunk two wells, presented one fire engine and built a ring road around the dumpsite for Bekasi residents.

Previously, the mayoralty had asked the administration to provide a number of public facilities in the area around the dumpsite, such as new mosques, for example.

However, Jakarta said the demands were too great and that it would probably not be able to fulfill them. Meantime, Bekasi has cited Jan. 31 as the deadline to submit to its demands.

"We identified the Marunda dump in North Jakarta and Tegal Alur in West Jakarta as alternative locations should a dispute occur in the future and the Bekasi mayoralty decide to close the dump," Muhayat said.

However, Jakarta seems to have no choice but to extend its agreement with Bantar Gebang as it is becoming increasingly clear that the other alternatives would not be ready before the deadline expired.

Jakarta's environmental impact management agency said that an environmental impact analysis for Marunda and Tegal Alur had yet to commence.

"We are still working on the terms of reference (TOR), which will encompass all the details of the analysis," agency head Kosasih told reporters.

The agency is expected to finish the TOR early next month.

In compliance with the existing terms of reference, an independent team would be set up to conduct the analysis.

"It will take at least six months," he said.

This means that it is almost impossible for Jakarta to replace the Bantar Gebang dumpsite by either the 71-hectare Tegal Alur or 60-hectare Marunda sites in the near future.

Bekasi has set a Jan. 31 deadline for the signing of a new memorandum of understanding requiring Jakarta to comply with new terms.

Bekasi closed the Bantar Gebang dump on Dec. 10 due to environmental concerns. It reopened the site later, following an intervention from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the House of Representatives.

The renewed demand from Bekasi was attributable to the new autonomy law that took effect on Jan. 1 this year and gave regional governments more leeway to govern themselves.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso had said earlier that the administration was also eyeing Bangka island, which lies to the east of South Sumatra, to take daily some 4,000 tons of the city's garbage. The garbage would be used as infill at worked-out opencast tin mines in the islands.

But, as of today, none of the planned alternative dumpsites is able to receive Jakarta's garbage.

Mounting protest from residents in the vicinity of the respective sites has dampened the administration's plans.

Dozens of Marunda residents staged a rally on Tuesday at the City Council, asking legislators to cancel the city's plan to use Marunda as Jakarta's alternative dumpsite.

Residents of Tegal Alur have also objected to the plan, unless the city met their requirements, which included the construction of a three-meter wall separating the location from residential areas and the development of some public facilities.

At present, some 5,000 tons of the city's garbage are taken to Bantar Gebang, while the remaining 1,000 tons are dumped at roadsides and in rivers.

The administration plans to allocate Rp 233.5 billion this year for spending on the city's environmental problems and on urban design.