Official to be dismissed for failing to take out the trash

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Following the Bekasi mayoralty's decision to close the Bantar Gebang garbage dump, the Jakarta administration appears set to fire the head of the City Sanitation Agency Saksono Soehodo for failing to manage the city's refuse problem.

Governor Sutiyoso admitted on Friday that Saksono was not capable of handling the problem, and all but confirmed that the head of the sanitation agency would be replaced.

"I chose him based on trust. But in reality, he is not capable and could not perform," Sutiyoso told reporters.

Saksono, who has been in charge of the agency for 10 years, was blamed for the chronic garbage problems, including the management of the city's main landfill site in Bekasi, which many have criticized as an environmental disaster.

The 104-hectare dump, which supposedly employs a sanitary landfill system, should not have caused the damage that it has, but the agency did not take the necessary steps to properly apply the system, opting instead to simply dump the trash in the open.

According many environmentalists, the city would not have had the problems in the first place, if the agency had managed the waste properly -- using incinerators and transforming the garbage into fertilizer -- while promoting community participation.

Bekasi had been demanding the closure of Bantar Gebang since 1999 but Jakarta was able to appease them by promising to repair the damages -- which they did not -- and paying compensation of at least Rp 1 billion a year.

A series of negotiations was later held, but the talks ended in a deadlock this year.

Bekasi officially decided to close the dump as of Monday Dec. 10, 2001.

Shocked at Bekasi's decision, Jakarta is now enacting an emergency plan and attempting to open former dumps in the city and create new ones in other areas. It seems, however, that the plan has not been well developed, and is changing on a daily basis.

Jakarta also planned to buy more incinerators worth Rp 250 million each, next year and speed up its cooperation with private firms which would use better technology to process refuse into fertilizer.

The technology was also available to Saksono, but his agency decided not to use the funds allocated for the improvements. Instead of making use of an environmental friendly system, which would have cost more money, he opted for an open dumping system which is not legally allowed in most countries throughout the world.

Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul Kahfi confirmed the plan to replace Saksono.

"We hope his replacement will improve the agency's performance," Kahfi, who is also chairman of the City's Rank and Position Supervisory Body, said.