Jakarta to sign new MoU on Bantar Gebang soon
Jakarta to sign new MoU on Bantar Gebang soon
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration is determined to continue using the
Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi as it plans to sign the new
memorandum of understanding on the use of the site soon.
Spokesman for the city administration Muhayat confirmed on
Wednesday that the new MoU will be signed before the Jan. 31
deadline.
"Both the administration and the Bekasi mayoralty are
conducting negotiations over terms of the new MoU," Muhayat told
The Jakarta Post.
Muhayat, however, could not provide details as to how far the
administration would comply with the new requirements demanded by
the Bekasi mayoralty.
Bekasi has set Jan. 31 as the deadline for the administration
to fulfill their new demands stipulated in a new MoU following
the closure of Bantar Gebang dump on Dec. 10 due to environmental
concerns.
Under the new terms, Bekasi mayoralty demanded the
administration to provide some compensation for local residents,
totaling Rp 18.5 billion.
Bekasi also required the administration to build new sports
fields, mosques and streets in the Cikiwul, Udik, and Sumur Batu
subdistricts of Bekasi.
It also demanded the renovation of school buildings and
subdistrict offices. In addition, new computers and motorcycles
for each subdistrict were also required in the new MoU.
Due to such terms, the administration had earlier accused the
Bekasi municipality of blackmail, and would reconsider the
continued use of the 104-hectare dump. It claimed to have
prepared smaller alternative dump sites located elsewhere.
A 71-hectare site at Tegal Alur in West Jakarta and a 60-
hectare site in Marunda in North Jakarta are among those that
were proposed as alternatives.
Jakarta is also considering Bangka island which is situated to
the east of South Sumatra, to take approximately 4,000 tons per
day of the city's trash. The garbage would be used as backfill in
former tin mines on the island.
But, it is growing increasingly apparent that none of those
alternatives can be operational in the near future.
Mounting protests from local residents of the respective
locales coupled with the fact that those sites were proven to be
as yet unprepared, show that the administration has no choice but
seek an extension of their contract with Bantar Gebang at least
until the end of this year.
Jakarta's Environmental Impact Management Agency said earlier
that environmental impact analyses at Marunda and Tegal Alur were
yet to commence.