Residents say no to plan for garbage processing

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hundreds of residents in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, rejected the city administration's plan to set up a garbage processing plant at the sewage treatment compound in the area, saying they did not believe the administration anymore after it broke its earlier promise.

The residents claimed the city had promised during the construction of the sewage treatment compound that the facility would not pollute the surrounding environment. Instead, when the facility began operating, they found that they could no longer drink the groundwater and had to buy bottled water since.

They feared that the new garbage processing plant would further deteriorate the environment.

Mohamad Soleh, a senior resident of Duri Kosambi, said on Friday that when the city administration began constructing the sewage treatment compound in 1995, the officials promised that it would not pollute the groundwater and emit airborne pollutants.

Soleh said he bought an average 30 liters of water every day, which cost him an additional Rp 50,000 (US$5.90) per month.

"We can't drink the groundwater. Sometimes, we can't even use it for bathing because it really stinks," he said. "The odor has often embarrassed residents throwing parties, because their guests wince when they smell it."

Soleh said he had supported the city in the sewage treatment project eight years ago.

"This time, I won't fall prey to empty promises."

He also mentioned that the air was cleaner in the last two weeks.

Another resident, Saduni, suggested, "Maybe it's because the press came to interview locals after we protested the city's plan. Maybe the operators of the sewage treatment facility are afraid that our complaints on the stink will appear in newspapers and decided to put the proper amount of treatment chemicals into the sewage."

Prior to the protest, the residents had formed a committee to oppose the city's garbage processing plant plan and 800 members had signed a rejection letter that was sent to the City Sanitation Agency, said Saduni, the committee's spokesman.

Soleh said city officials had come to the area with information on the garbage processing plant, saying that at least 400 dump trucks would come to the dump every day, bringing thousands of tons of garbage.

The officials also reassured residents that modern technology would be used to minimize the environmental and human impact.

The residents feared that the garbage processing facility would also lure many scavengers to their neighborhood and affect their living conditions.

So far, only the garbage processing facility in Bojong village, Bogor regency, is ready to take over managing the city's garbage from Bantar Gebang dump, Bekasi, which will close on Dec. 31. But its capacity is only 1,500 tons, far too low to manage the 6,000 tons of garbage produced daily by Jakarta.

The two planned facilities in Duri Kosambi and on Jl. Cakung Cilincing, East Jakarta, are expected to be completed in June 2004.

The city administration is still trying to persuade Bekasi to extend the capital's use of Bantar Gebang, and has offered Rp 25 billion in compensation. Bantar Gebang, however, has refused on the gorunds that the city had damaged the environment and endangered the public's health.