Locals irked by dump, prefer to stay quiet

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With the Jakarta administration shutting down the Bantar Gebang dump, the capital's dump trucks have begun to dispose of their 6,000 tons of daily waste on open land in Cilincing subdistrict and near Jl. Cakung Cilincing in Rorotan subdistrict, both in North Jakarta.

The dump trucks started to dump the garbage in Cilincing on Saturday, without the benefit of any waste treatment processes.

A security officer of property firm PT Nusa Kirana, Baharuddin, said he was ordered to guard a plot of land owned by the company adjacent to the Cilincing dump site because "we are afraid that they will dump garbage onto our land".

He and nearby residents said the dump site in Cilincing was no more than five hectares in size, but a security guard with the Jakarta Sanitation Agency, Hartono, said the land was 15 hectares.

Residents living near the two dump sites have begun to complain about the smell and the pollution caused by the waste.

Sumadi, 26, a meatball soup vendor in Rorotan, said he had lost most of his customers, mostly warehouse workers, because garbage trucks were constantly passing by his food stall.

"Many workers used to eat here. But they don't come here anymore because the garbage trucks pass by on this road," said Sumadi, a handkerchief pressed tightly over his nose.

Paimin, 40, whose lives immediately next to the dump, said residents were not informed by administration officials that their neighborhood would be turned into a dump.

Paimin, who has been in his house for two years, said he was disturbed by the smell from the garbage and the noise of the dump trucks. Other residents have similar complaints.

"But we have become used to the situation," he told The Jakarta Post. He said he was unhappy with the situation but did not know how to bring his complaint to the administration.

Residents living around Bantar Gebang had repeatedly demanded the Bekasi administration close down the dump because of health and environmental concerns.

When Bekasi agreed to extend Jakarta's contract to use the dump on Dec. 22, residents blocked the entrance to Bantar Gebang, causing waste to pile up in the capital.

Jakarta then decided to close down the dump because it felt it was being "cornered" by Bekasi, especially over demands that it pay Rp 85,000 (US$10) for every ton of waste it dumped.

Other residents said they feared the thugs who were benefiting from the opening of the dump site in Cilincing. The thugs collect illegal fees from garbage truck drivers.

The drivers complain that they have to pay the thugs about Rp 15,000 every time they go to the dump.

"I only get a Rp 10,000 operational allowance per trip from my office but I have to pay those thugs Rp 15,000," said a driver from city market operator PD Pasar Jaya, who requested anonymity.