Scattering litter, mirror of the administration's ineptitude
Scattering litter, mirror of the administration's ineptitude
Annastashya Emmanuelle
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The closure of Bantar Gebang, the city's garbage dump, is the
dire result of the city administration's incompetence in handling
Jakarta's waste problems.
Residents in Bekasi, where Bantar Gebang is located, have
demanded the site's closure due to the health and environmental
problems it has caused.
The administration's Sanitation Agency was supposed to manage
the garbage with a sanitary landfill system, but in reality,
thousands of cubic meters of trash were simply piled up in an
open area at the 104-hectare dump site.
As a result, no less than 1,352 local people have contracted
diarrhea while 6,757 others have endured respiratory problems
over the past several years. Not to mention the skin diseases and
digestive problems that have featured prominently in complaints
from residents living around the dump area.
The ground water in the surrounding area is heavily polluted
with refuse contamination, as well as bacteria that causes a
number of ailments.
The garbage issue has never been dealt with properly and no
long-term solution to the problem exists, despite Jakarta's
residents producing at least 25,650 cubic meters of household
garbage every day.
The current dumping system, according to environmental experts
at the Environmental Impact Control Agency (BAPEDAL), is not
suitable for metropolitan city waste management, especially as
the city administration lacks the commitment and discipline -- as
it easily resorts to open dumping -- trained staff and enough
land to implement the system.
Since current dumping methods may be suitable for temporary
measures only, the agency suggested that the city adopt garbage
management practices of other Asian metropolitan cities, such as
investing in incinerators.
To have incinerators work effectively, however, the organic
and the inorganic waste must be properly separated; yet another
weakness in the garbage processing chain.
Meanwhile, the city administration has pleaded with the lack
of funds to properly handle the matter despite the fact that it
set aside only Rp 90 billion for garbage handling this year.
The 600 old and poorly maintained garbage trucks in operation
cannot deal with the total trash volumes.
The problem could partly be solved if the city councillors had
the morals and sense of crisis to reject the executives' offer to
buy them brand new cars -- paid for with funds from the city's
budget that was initially allocated to buy eight garbage trucks.
Also, truck drivers would rather pick up garbage in wealthy
housing areas where they get bigger tips.
Therefore, paying the sanitary fee does not necessarily help
solve one's domestic garbage problems.
Slum dwellers, with their inadequate knowledge and attitude
toward waste management, simply dump their trash into rivers and
drains, worsening Jakarta's flooding problems.
Public campaigns of proper garbage handling is scarce and most
Jakartans remain in the dark in terms of the correct handling of
domestic waste, let alone environmental awareness.
Even though residents' participation is important in
establishing a clean environment, garbage management is indeed
the city administration's responsibility.
Yet the administration does not seem to have learned anything,
and instead of establishing a comprehensive strategy to tackle
the waste problem, they scout in panic for lands, mostly on the
outskirts of the capital, to dump trash.
And to replace Bantar Gebang, authorities eyed a 20-hectare
plot in Bojong village in Bogor, West Java, persisting with the
'landfill system' which often got mistaken for open dumping.
However, Bogor residents challenged the plan, refusing to let
their area become the home of Jakarta's garbage.
Other locations mentioned by the governor are the Kamal Muara
and Cacing (Cakung-Cilincing) areas in North Jakarta, Tegal Alur
and Kapuk in West Jakarta, as well as Pulo Gebang in East
Jakarta.
A few days before Bantar Gebang was closed, only the Cakung-
Cilincing dump was prepared to accept a limited portion of
garbage. Officials at Kapuk sub-district in West Jakarta said
that they were unaware of the plan, while Tegal Alur residents
said their area would never be used as a dump site.
The site at Pulo Gebang is also surrounded by residential
complexes, but as the city administration is becoming more
desperate, any land will do.
Only after experiencing the Bantar Gebang fiasco, the city
agency is considering buying 10 new incinerators to add to its
current five.
Maintaining a clean environment could be costly. Establishing
public awareness and knowledge on managing trash, for example,
would require a great deal of funding. It is, however, badly
needed as relying solely on the agency in charge is often
disappointing.
For the Sanitation Agency to equip themselves with proper
tools and capable staff, is also a matter of funding.
But if the matter is considered as an urgent priority by the
those in charge, it is not impossible to manage Jakarta's garbage
and begin establishing a clean, comfortable city.
Therefore, city hall decision makers must put aside personal
interests and be committed and serious in providing residents
with excellent public services to restore the polluted and
destroyed environmental conditions in the city.