Officials silent on waste crisis
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A week after Bekasi municipal administration decided not to extend the use of Bantar Gebang dump site to accommodate Jakarta's 6,000 tons of daily waste, Jakarta administration officials remain tightlipped on their plans to avoid a waste crisis in the capital.
Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday that he would not insist that Bekasi extend the agreement, signed for the first time in 1986.
"The decision is in Bekasi's hands," he said at the City Hall.
The governor refused to explain how Jakarta will cope with its waste if no alternative site is made available after the agreement runs out on Dec. 31, 2003.
Salamat Limbong, head of the City Sanitation Agency responsible for handling the city's garbage, also declined to comment.
"I'm so sorry, I can't explain it," was his only attempt to answer questions pertaining to his agency's preparations in the remaining eight weeks.
City Hall's spokesman Muhayat still believes that Bekasi's decision to close down Bantar Gebang is not final. However, he had nothing further to say on the matter either.
The only facility that may be available to treat the capital's daily garbage is a water treatment plant using German technology, planned for Bojong village, Bogor regency. But the facility could only process around 1,500 tons of waste daily, far from the capital's waste production.
Besides the limited capacity, the planned facility has also been opposed by locals who fear that they will suffer from respiratory problems and other ailments caused by polluted air and contaminated ground water, as in Bantar Gebang.
Bekasi closed down Bantar Gebang dump site at the end of 2001 after which a waste crisis hit the capital, leaving garbage piled up on the streets.
The crisis ended with President Megawati Soekarnoputri's intervention. Finally, Jakarta agreed to pay Rp 22 billion (US$2.59 million) to Bekasi, of which Rp 14 billion was paid in 2002 and the remaining Rp 8 billion this year.
Sutiyoso said in July that the city will be ready to handle the garbage it produces by the end of this year. He also said that the relevant officials would be responsible if they failed to resolve the issue.
"If they have lied, hang them all up together," he stated at that time.
However, he revised his statement last month, saying that he was optimistic that negotiations with Bekasi would be successful and the extension of Bantar Gebang dump would go ahead.
Salamat told City Council Commission D on development affairs in July that his agency had prepared two waste treatment facilities in Bojong and in Cakung, North Jakarta. Both would be ready by December, he said.
The total capacity of the two facilities, operated by PT Wira Gulfindo Sarana, will reach around 2,500 tons per day using the German ball press technology. The city must pay a tipping fee to the company at Rp 53,000 (US$6.5) per ton.
The agency's plan to set up a dump site in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, with a target of 1,000 tons, also faces a problem. The administration has yet to issue a permit for its construction.