Residents demand unfulfilled promises

Residents demand unfulfilled promises

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Local residents living near the site of the Bantar Gebang dump
in Bekasi are complaining over the slow development of public
facilities worth Rp 14 billion (US$1.4 million) that were
promised by the Jakarta administration as a precondition for the
reopening of the dump to Jakarta garbage.

Residents from three villages, Sumur Batu, Cikiwul, and
Ciketing Udik, whose houses are separated from the dump by just a
three-meter-height wall, vowed to disrupt the operation of the
dump if by May. 30 there had been no sign of the facilities
starting to be developed.

Earlier this year, the Jakarta administration agreed to build
public facilities and infrastructure, including roads, mosques, a
public health center, a 10-meter-high wall cordoning off the
dump, sports facilities and a clean water network in the adjacent
villages.

Rp 14 billion needed to build the facilities was handed over
by the Jakarta administration to the Bekasi municipality earlier
this year.

Respected Sumur Batu resident Nasir Anwar said that the
residents were waiting for the Bekasi administration to soon
start the development of the facilities.

"For 15 years now, we have been tired listening to the
promises peddled by the Jakarta administration. Now, we want
compensation for the misery caused to us by the dump. Thus, we
are urging the Bekasi administration, who currently have the
money, to promptly fulfill the resident's demands, or else we
will close the dump down," he said.

Nasir added that the Bekasi administration had only said that
the delay was due to the need to comply with administrative
procedures.

The villagers have now formed a team consisting of 30
prominent figures from the three villages to monitor the
realization of the compensation project.

They are even going to the Bekasi municipal offices every week
to monitor the usage of the funds.

"We must keep our eyes open to any irregularities in the
management of the money. That's why we have been coming to the
municipal offices every week since the disbursement of the money
on March 25," said Nasir.

Bekasi municipality spokesman Cecep admitted that they were
still finalizing the administrative requirements as the project
was a huge one. Thus, the municipality could not state any firm
date for its completion.

The villagers, who are mostly destitute, would appear to
deserve the compensation as their living conditions are
appalling.

In Sumur Batu, in addition to the almost unbearable smell, the
road is heavily pot-holed, with pools of water and garbage
everywhere, resulting in a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes
and other lethal insects.

In order to win the hearts and minds of the Bantar Gebang
residents, who had earlier rejected the reopening of the dump,
the Jakarta administration has been showering the residents with
money, with the amount this year being increased by 560 percent
over the previous Rp 2.5 billion.

The Jakarta administration will also fulfill Bekasi's earlier
demands, which are separate from the compensation funds, for the
building of a hospital, clean water facilities, and the
application of a sanitary landfill system at the dump.

However, when The Jakarta Post inspected the site, there was
no sign of any such plan being realized.

The director of the Bantar Gebang dump, Jawawi Mubarok, said
that the Sanitation Agency was already working on a sanitary
landfill system, which currently involved 7 hectares of the 104-
hectare dump.

"Our yearly target is 27 hectares for the landfill system, and
until now we have encountered no difficulty at all. As for the
local piped water supply and the hospital, we are still waiting
for the other relevant agencies to get involved in the
construction work," he said.