No money for super dump in 2004 city budget

No money for super dump in 2004 city budget

Bambang Nurbianto and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Although the city administration has repeatedly said the capital
would be provided with high technology treatment facilities for
solid waste as recommended by most experts, no funds for the
construction of such facilities have been allocated in this
year's budget.

The chairman of the City Council's development commission,
Koeswadi Soesilohardjo, said the Rp 311 billion (US$36.59
million) budget allocated to the Jakarta Sanitation Agency this
year would cover only its operating costs.

"We told officials from the agency that we needed the hi-tech
treatment facilities during a hearing with the agency before the
city budget was drafted, but they didn't seem to think it was
important," Koeswadi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Instead, the agency at the time preferred to lobby the Bekasi
municipal administration to permit Jakarta to keep using the
Bantar Gebang dump, where a sanitary landfill system is applied.

Koeswadi advised the city administration to change its stance
on the treatment of the 6,000 tons of waste the capital produces
every day "as this will not only stop us depending on Bekasi, but
also change garbage from being a problem into a source of
profit".

He was referring to the practice in various developed
countries, such as Japan, Canada and Germany, which convert solid
waste into valuable solid and liquid fertilizers, as well as
building materials.

Separately on Saturday, city spokesman Muhayat said the
administration was in no hurry to start using the Bantar Gebang
dump again after the Bekasi administration abruptly changed its
mind on closing it.

Playing down the waste crisis, he said the administration
wanted investors to provide the hi-tech facilities.

"These investors will build the facilities for us. That's why
we are not including any allocation in the 2004 budget to finance
the building of high-tech treatment facilities," he asserted.

The invitation to investors has been bandied around for the
past two years, but, so far, only one company has responded with
the installation of bale press machines at Bojong dump, Bogor,
east of Jakarta.

The dispute between Jakarta and Bekasi became heated when the
latter decided to close the dump for good but later reopened it,
demanding that Jakarta pay Rp 83,500 per ton of waste dumped
there. Jakarta adamantly refused.

As an alternative to the Bekasi dump, the city started using
dumps in Cilincing and Rorotan, North Jakarta. Given that no
treatment facilities are available at these two sites, there are
widespread fears that their continued use could cause serious
environmental and health problems.

On Jan. 8, Bekasi mayor Achmad Zurfaih sent a letter saying
that Jakarta could use the Bantar Gebang dump again as usual, but
Jakarta has yet to respond.