Jakarta to start dumping in Bojong mid February
Jakarta to start dumping in Bojong mid February
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration plans to open the Bojong dump in Bogor
regency by mid February, a month behind the planned schedule,
amid strong opposition from locals who fear possible health
problems and environmental damage.
Assistant to the city secretary for development affairs, IGKG
Suena, said on Monday that Jakarta had almost completed the
necessary infrastructure for the dump. The garbage processing
facility, using the ball press German technology, and electricity
have been installed at the site.
Dump operator PT Wira Gulfindo Sarana, which was appointed by
the Jakarta administration, has invested Rp 85 billion (US$10
million) in garbage-processing technology.
Although the company plans to use the technology to minimize
environmental damage, locals are not convinced. More than 1,000
local residents staged a protest on Sunday as the dump geared up
for operation.
Jakarta, however, asserts that locals protests will not
obstruct its plan.
"Let the Bogor regency administration handle the protests. Why
should we take care of that?" said Suena.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso claimed that his administration had
discussed the plan with the Bogor regency administration.
"There is no opposition from the locals as the dump will
implement a hi-tech system adopted from Germany. There will be no
stench after the garbage is processed," he claimed.
The Bogor regency administration gave the green light on Dec.
22 to use the area for dumping Jakarta's 6,000 tons of daily
waste, as only up to 2,000 tons can be accommodated at the Bojong
dump.
Sutiyoso had said that a fish pond would be set up at the site
to indicate that the processed water from the distilled waste was
safe.
The use of Bojong dump will reduce the capital's dependency on
the 104-hectare Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi municipality.
Suena admitted that the capital would still use the Bantar
Gebang dump.
Bekasi Mayor Akhmad Zurfaih sent a letter to Sutiyoso last
Friday, saying that his administration agreed to allow Jakarta to
dump its trash in Bantar Gebang as stated in the joint agreement
between the administrations of Jakarta and Bekasi on Dec. 22.
Jakarta closed the dump on Jan. 4 in rejection of Bekasi's
demand that Jakarta pays Rp 85,000 (US$10) for each ton of waste
dumped.
The week-long closure has put both Jakarta and Bekasi in
crisis. For the time being, Jakarta is dumping its waste in
swampy land in Cilincing subdistrict and on open land in Rorotan
subdistrict, all in North Jakarta.