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.