No improvement seen by Bantar Gebang residents
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.