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.