Jakarta still seeking additional dump sites

Jakarta still seeking additional dump sites

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five months prior to the closure of the Bantar Gebang dump site
in Bekasi mayoralty, councillors have demanded the City
Sanitation Agency to ready for locating alternative dump sites to
avoid a possible garbage crisis next year.

"We need assurances that the city will not experience another
garbage crisis next year. Therefore, we want the agency to report
any progress on the preparations," said chairman Koeswadi of City
Council Commission D on development affairs during a hearing with
the agency on Wednesday.

Head of the agency Salamat Limbong admitted that his agency
had a limited ability and could handle only 2,500 of 6,000 tons
of garbage produced by Jakartans daily. He also said that only
two garbage treatment facilities in Bojong village, Bogor, and in
Cakung, North Jakarta, would be ready by December.

The total capacity of the two facilities, operated by PT Wira
Gulfindo Sarana, will be around 2,500 tons per day. The
facilities use the German ball press technology, and the city
must pay a tipping fee to the company at Rp 53,000 (US$6.5) per
ton.

"Both locations have been prepared (by the agency) as
emergency sites once the Bantar Gebang dump site has been closed
down," said Limbong.

The agency's plan to set up a dump site in Duri Kosambi with a
target of 1,000 tons is facing a problem since the city
administration has yet to issue a permit for its construction.
City officials had claimed earlier that the construction of the
dump site was 80 percent complete.

Bekasi closed the Bantar Gebang dump site at the end of 2001,
accusing Jakarta of causing environmental damage, and in turn
caused a garbage crisis in the capital, as most of the waste was
left to pile up unchecked, particularly at traditional markets,
on street corners and in neighborhoods.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri and State Minister for the
Environment Nabiel Makarim stepped in and ended the dispute in
January 2002, but Jakarta had to pay a compensation of Rp 14
billion and build various facilities, including a community
health center and a water pipeline, in the villages of Ciketing
Udik, Cikiwul and Sumur Batu in Bantar Gebang district.

Governor Sutiyoso has said that the administration would not
extend an agreement with Bekasi mayoralty for the 104-hectare
dump site. Jakarta first began using Bantar Gebang in 1996, and
the agreement is to end on Dec. 31, 2003.

Limbong said that his agency has planned to construct six
garbage treatment facilities using the ball press technology in
Sukapura and Sunter in North Jakarta, two units in Pulo Gebang,
East Jakarta, and two units in Cakung-Cilincing, East Jakarta.
With a capacity of 500 tons each, the facilities built on city
land could accommodate around 3,000 tons of garbage.

However, the plan remains a pipe dream since the agency has
not received the green light from the governor to commence the
project. Limbong said that he had no idea as to the funding for
the project, since it was not included in the 2003 City Budget.

The ball press machine must be imported from Germany, and at a
cost of Rp 15 billion for each machine, the agency needs an
additional Rp 90 billion to purchase six machines.