Residents say no to plan for garbage processing

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.