Jakarta to have sewerage system 100m underground

Jakarta to have sewerage system 100m underground

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta will have a deep-level comprehensive sewerage system
for handling its human waste in an environmentally friendly way,
to be developed by the Australian company, Global Grid, city
administration officials said.

Head of the city's environmental management agency (BPLHD)
Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said on Tuesday that the main sewer for
accommodating Jakarta's human waste would be buried some 100
meters to 150 meters beneath the surface.

"The main sewer will link the main areas in Jakarta with a
waste management plant normally built near the sea. Singapore now
uses this technology," Kosasih told The Jakarta Post.

The city administration has announced it will privatize its
sewage management and cooperate with Global Grid of New South
Wales, Australia, with a total investment of about Rp 50 trillion
(about US$5.3 billion).

Kosasih said that many local companies would be involved in
the development of the giant project, which was expected to be
completed within eight years. He also added that the project
would have a local content of 65 percent.

A Memorandum of Implementation Agreement (MIA) would be signed
in June. After the signing, the firm would initially invest US$5
million on a feasibility study and the mapping of Jakarta's
system within a year.

The company, which will start the construction of sewer pipes
next year, will hand over the facility to the city administration
in 25 years under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme.

Kosasih said that the company would be authorized to charge
residents for the service. But he could not yet say how much that
would be as the city administration was still working on a bylaw
to stipulate the charging rates.

Construction of the tunnel will not disrupt activities on the
surface as excavation would be carried out using special
underground equipment, he added.

Meanwhile, assistant for development affairs for the city
secretary Irzal Djamal said that a pilot project for the sewerage
system had been carried out in Setiabudi, Central Jakarta, in the
early 1970s.

"But the Jakarta Sewerage System Project (JSSP) did not
progress well as it was under the control of the central
government," Irzal told the Post, adding that the Setiabudi
project covered only about two percent of the area within
Jakarta.

Currently, 98 percent of human waste management is handled by
the city sanitation agency, which has waste disposal equipment to
take the waste from residential areas and then dump it at waste
management locations in Pulo Gebang, East Jakarta, and in Duri
Kosambi, West Jakarta.

He said that the new project would accumulate all the human
waste at its waste treatment facility and process it into clean
water, fertilizers and other products, such as dolls.

"I once received a doll from my Thai friend, which looks like
jade. But he said that it was made from waste matter," he said.

Speaking about why the Australian technology was chosen, Irzal
explained that the central government, through the public works
ministry, had announced in the early 1990s that Jakarta planned
to construct a sewerage system.

Among companies interested in the project were those from
Japan, France, Britain and Australia. Irzal said that Global Grid
was selected because it was the only one that offered a
comprehensive sewerage system.

"One company gave up after realizing how much was the total
investment required. Other companies could only offer a partial
sewerage system in specific locations so we rejected their
proposals as we needed a comprehensive sewerage system in the
capital," he added.