Scavengers complain over dump closure

JAKARTA: More than 400 scavengers have lost their source of livelihood over the past three weeks after a temporary dump in Semper Timur, East Jakarta, was closed down by the members of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR).

"The FBR members have guarded the dump and prevented garbage trucks from entering the site since May 9," Kasimin, one of the scavengers' coordinators, was quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif.com.

He added that many of the 440 scavengers, who were living in 170 shanties around the dump, had to return to their villages as they could no longer make the Rp 3,000 (32 US cents) to Rp 10,000 per day that they used to.

Head of North Jakarta chapter of FBR, Abdul Hasyim, confirmed the closure, saying that it was upon the request of the land owner who had never agreed to the plot of land being used as a dump.

North Jakarta municipality spokesman Asep Rohyani acknowledged that the site was private property.

"However, the closure will not interrupt the whole garbage handling process in North Jakarta ... the garbage could go straight to other dumps in Marunda and Rorotan," he said. -- JP