'Streets will be dirty and smell bad'

The 17-year-old agreement between Jakarta and Bekasi on the use of the Bantar Gebang dump will end on Dec. 31. An environmental expert has called on the Jakarta and Bekasi administrations to find a solution to avoid a possible garbage crisis in the capital in the near future. The Jakarta Post talked to some residents on the issue.

Mick Powell, 50, is an Australian who has been living in Indonesia for 13 years. He lives on Jl. Fatmawati, South Jakarta, with his wife:

High technology is needed to treat waste, moreover Jakarta produces thousands of tons of garbage every day. Maybe the city administration does not consider waste as a lucrative business and therefore no one has been interested in investing in the waste business.

Burning the garbage is not the best way out. I suggest that low technology be used to treat waste as it is environmentally friendly.

The administration must empower scavengers and poor people to make money from garbage. Scavengers help collect and sort the organic waste from the non-organic waste. While the poor people can be accommodated by the recycling industry that uses waste as its raw materials. For instance, organic waste can be turned into fertilizer.

I'm sure by providing this sort of industry, it will be a source of income for the poor people, scavengers and the administration itself.

It won't be easy. It will take time to get residents to separate their garbage. I'm sad to see that people here are careless in treating their waste.

Kris, 32, is an employee with an international organization in South Jakarta. He lives in Setiabudi, South Jakarta:

Garbage is a very crucial problem that needs immediate handling from the city administration.

Governor Sutiyoso must think about the most effective way to treat waste effectively.

Perhaps, it is a good idea for the City Sanitation Agency to empower scavengers or evicted squatters who are willing to treat waste.

This would be a blessing in disguise for the poor people as it will improve their welfare.

Suminah, not her real name, 50, is a street sweeper in West Jakarta. She lives in Kemanggisan, West Jakarta, with her husband and five children:

I have no idea on how to solve the waste problem. I only know that I sweep and clean the garbage from the streets and the trucks take it away.

I can't imagine what will happen if one day the waste cannot be taken to the dump. All the streets will be dirty and smell bad and I will have to sweep them all day long. Maybe I will have to work harder so that my supervisor cannot blame me for the mounting waste.

I think it's impossible for residents to stop or reduce producing household waste, right?

-- Leo Wahyudi S.