No improvement seen by Bantar Gebang residents
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It has been over a month since the city administration and the Bekasi mayoralty renewed an agreement on Jakarta's use of the dump in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, but for residents living near the site, the situation has not changed.
"I do not feel that there have been any changes here. Like usual, there still is the bad odor from the dump," said a 60-year-old resident of Ciketing Udik, whose house is only some 200 meters from the dump.
Jakarta produces at least 25,000 cubic meters of garbage every day, and most of it is dumped at Bantar Gebang.
It has used the dump since 1986, but Bekasi closed it down last December due to environmental damage.
Another resident, Hardianto, 25, who works as an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, complained about the liquid that leaks from the waste in the garbage trucks along the road heading to the 108-hectare dump site.
"The odor is really terrible, especially during the rainy season. The stench comes from the liquid that leaks from the garbage trucks," he said.
He added, though, that repair work to the damaged road in his area had begun. He was referring to a two-kilometer stretch of concrete road that leads to the dump site in Ciketing Udik subdistrict of Bekasi mayoralty.
The site is located in Ciketing Udik, Cikiwul and Sumur Batu subdistricts.
Residents have long complained about water and air pollution around the area, which has continuously worsened due to the improper implementation of the sanitation landfill system at the dump.
The head of the Bantar Gebang operational office, Sentot Suwagiono, admitted that the system had not been implemented properly.
"I do not know the (real) state of the landfill system as the area has all been filled with garbage," he said, adding that he has been working at the Bantar Gebang office for one month.
Under the sanitation landfill system, layers of certain materials, such as sand and geotextiles as well as water pipes, should be in place before garbage is dumped.
But the garbage has been dumped out in the open for years.
Sentot said that there were two main tasks being carried out at the dump site. He said that the Jakarta administration was preparing an area to wash the garbage trucks.
"In the future, all trucks coming out of this area should be washed," Sentot added. He also said that the trucks would be equipped with an instrument that would prevent any liquid from leaking onto the road.
Sentot said that they were also carrying out a pilot project to reduce the foul odor from the garbage while killing fly larva at the same time by sprinkling rice husk ash and chalk over the trash on a one-hectare area.
As for leakage from the trucks, Sentot said that private sectors would be involved in dealing with it.
Under the new agreement between Jakarta and Bekasi, the city administration has promised to pay compensation totaling Rp 14 billion (US$1.4 million) this year, and to build a community health center and local water pipeline.
The agreement could be extended for another year with compensation reaching Rp 8.75 billion for 2003.
Last year the city administration paid Rp 2.5 billion.