Smelly garbage to irk Jakartans for some time ahead or The garbage problem seems to be here to stay

Bambang Nurbianto The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Jakartans still remember the garbage crisis at the end of 2001 when the Bekasi municipality administration, backed by its residents, closed the Bantar Gebang dump for weeks, leaving the capital perplexed over how to handle its mounting garbage.

Bekasi argued that the 104-hectare dump, that has accommodated Jakarta's 6,000 tons of garbage a day since 1986, had caused environmental damage in the area and endangered people's health.

The closure resulted in piles of garbage on every corner of the city, spreading a putrid smell.

The heated dispute between Jakarta and Bekasi ended after President Megawati Soekarnoputri and State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim intervened.

Governor Sutiyoso decided at that time to dismiss the chief and deputy chief of the Jakarta Sanitation Agency and paid a total of Rp 22 billion (US$2.59 million) compensation for Bekasi.

However, city officials have yet to learn.

While the administration is aware that Dec. 31 is the last day that the city can make use of Bantar Gebang, the administration has not prepared alternative waste treatment facilities to replace the existing dump site.

In June, the officials convinced Jakartans they had prepared three separate locations for waste treatment facilities to replace Bantar Gebang.

Sutiyoso himself even said that he would "hang" officials who gave misleading reports on the preparation of the dumps.

So far, only one waste treatment facility in Bojong village, Bogor regency, with a capacity of only about 1,500 tons per day, will be ready by January.

Bojong residents are firmly opposed to the presence of the new dump. As an indication of just how strong their opposition is to the site, police had to fire warning shots during a protest early this month. Jakarta's plan to use German technology in treating garbage to minimize environmental damage did nothing to sway the opinion of people living in the area around the dump.

Two other facilities in Duri Kosambi, West Jakarta, -- which locals are also opposed to -- and on Jl. Cakung Cilincing in East Jakarta will only be ready by June 2004, officials said.

Meanwhile it seems not one of the officials responsible is about to be "hanged" as Sutiyoso threatened.

In the last weeks, Sutiyoso has been trying hard to persuade the Bekasi administration to change its mind, including offering Rp 25 billion in compensation, hoping Bekasi would reopen Bantar Gebang although the latter already has plans to convert the site into a community area.

Once the Jakarta administration manages to identify the reasons behind Bekasi and Bojong's rejection of their proposal, they can change their approach.

Observers had previously called on Jakarta to comply with all items already agreed upon including the installment of a processing plant in Bantar Gebang to avoid the worsening environmental damage.

The piling waste is supposed to be processed using the sanitary landfill system. In reality, the garbage is just dumped in the open with mounds of garbage towering 15 meters high.

Many residents living around the dump site suffer from respiratory problems, diarrhea and various skin ailments, due to the foul air and contaminated ground water.

Jakarta had also failed to regreen Bantar Gebang as stated in a renewed agreement signed in early 2002. The agreement also said that the capital would build a water pipeline to supply clean water for people in surrounding villages.

A metropolis like Jakarta, which covers an area of 60,000 hectares, should have its own waste treatment facilities. The city administration has signed nine memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with private companies toward that goal.

However, only two of them have been followed through.

PT Wira Gulfindo Sarana is managing the facility in Bojong while PT Interindo Global is now constructing a facility in Duri Kosambi that will convert garbage into liquid fertilizer.

The city, in another effort to ease the crisis had provided incinerators to subdistricts. However, the program failed because it could not significantly reduce the garbage. Officials argued that the now idle incinerators did not match the specifications in the original plan.

In 2002, the city allocated Rp 103 billion for sanitation projects but some Rp 32 billion of that was unused. This year, the city allocated some Rp 280 billion for similar projects. There have been no details given on the expenditure.

Officials argued that they failed to finish the waste treatment facilities on time because the residents demanded payment for their land based on its taxable value (NJOP) -- higher than what the administration had offered -- delaying the clearing of the land for the projects.

The question is, when all efforts to get Bantar Gebang dump back failed, what can Jakartans do to ease the waste crisis?

It is important that Jakartans start separating organic and nonorganic waste in every household, experts say. Data from the Jakarta Sanitation Agency revealed that around 65 percent of the daily waste is from households and small markets, meaning that there is a large proportion of organic waste.

Subdistricts officials must actively campaign for the adoption of simple waste treatment methods such as composting to turn organic waste into fertilizer. Even scavengers must be taught to sort garbage because some of the nonorganic garbage can be turned into recycled items.

Changing people's habits and encouraging the use of recycled products will help ease the garbage problems.

If all necessary efforts in managing garbage have been taken, Jakartans will be able to handle its waste in a more environmentally friendly way without depending on neighboring cities.

Source of garbage in Jakarta No. Source of garbage Volume (m3) Percentage ---------------------------------------------------- 1. Households 14,602 58.0 2. Small markets 629 2.5 3. PD Pasar Jaya

(City owned markets) 1,888 7.5 4. Industry 3,776 15.0 5. Roads and parks 3,776 15.0 6 Rivers 505 2.0 --------------------------------------------------

Total 25,176 100

Source: Jakarta Sanitation Agency

Agreements with private companies No. Company Locations Status Capacity Notes

ton/day ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. PT Wira Gulfindo Bojong, agreement 1,500 ready in

Sarana Bogor signed January 2. PT Wira Gulfindo Cacing, no

Sarana E. Jakarta MOU 1,000 follow up 3. PT Interindo D. Kosambi agreement 1,000 ready in

Global signed June 2004 4. PT Tata Prima Nambo, MOU 1,500 no

Alam Bogor follow up 5. PT Bio Pupuk Marunda no

Indonesia Jaya N. Jakarta MOU 350 follow up 6. PT Dasa Prima Sukapura MOU 500 no

Lestari Unggul E. Jakarta follow up 7. PT ACME Corp. Marunda MOU 1,000 no

follow up 8 PT Galuh Chandra Rawa Buaya proposed 500 no

Kirana W. Jakarta MOU 1,000 follow up 9. PT Karya Mitra Cakung no

Selaras E. Jakarta MOU follow up 10. PT Bhineka P. Marunda MOU 6,000 no

Marketindo follow up 11. PT Sucaco Daan Mogot proposed 1,200 no

W. Jakarta MOU follow up ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: Jakarta Sanitation Agency