Marunda locals to sue Sutiyoso

Marunda residents will soon file administrative lawsuits against Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, chairman of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Widjanarko Puspoyo and Attorney General M.A. Rachman following the city administration's plan to open a new garbage dump site in their neighborhood in North Jakarta.

A representative of the Marunda residents, Bambang, said that the lawsuits had been submitted as there were still outstanding matters over the land plot to be used as a garbage dump.

He said that at least 10 hectares of the land had not yet been cleared by Bulog for use. "Bulog should have solved the land problem first before deciding to sign a memorandum of understanding with Governor Sutiyoso," he said.

According to him, Sutiyoso and his officials had not invited local residents to discuss the plan, despite the fact that about 600 families would be directly affected by the planned dump as their houses were located only about two meters to three meters from its location.

However, Bambang did not specify why the Attorney General was cited in the lawsuits.

"Marunda residents are all ready to defend the land to their last drop of blood from any parties that plan to turn it into a garbage dump," Bambang told Elshinta radio on Sunday.

The city administration has planned to open a new garbage dump site in Marunda as an alternative to the one at Bantar Gebang, which was once closed by Bekasi mayoralty.

The mayoralty, after intervention from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the House of Representatives, decided to reopen it pending the city's compliance with new terms to be included in a new memorandum of understanding scheduled to be signed before the deadline, Jan. 31.

On Dec. 31 Sutiyoso signed a memorandum of understanding with Bulog chief Widjanarko to use the 71-hectare plot in Marunda to accommodate the city's garbage, which totals 25,000 cubic meters per day.

When asked to comment on the lawsuits, spokesman of the city administration Muhayat said, "It's too early for the residents (to file any lawsuits) because we have not yet reached any decision on whether to use the land or not."

However, Muhayat confirmed that an MOU on Marunda had been signed but that did not mean that the plan would necessarily proceed because it still required further preparations that included social and environmental studies.

"It's still too early to say whether we'll use Marunda or not," he said, adding that the city administration was preparing other alternatives that included dumping the trash at Bangka island.