Sutiyoso plans to dump city's garbage on Bangka island
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
City Governor Sutiyoso said on Friday that he would prioritize Bangka island, rather than Bantar Gebang, Marunda and Tegal Alur, as an alternative dumpsite for the city's garbage.
"I shall prioritize Bangka first, instead of Marunda and Tegal Alur," Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.
He claimed that Bangka regency, which cooperated with an Australian company in processing garbage, was already prepared to tackle the environmental impact of garbage dumping.
The city administration signed a memorandum of understanding on Dec. 12 with the regency of Bangka Belitung province, which lies to the east of South Sumatra, to take some 4,000 tons of the city's total trash output of 6,000 tons per day.
The garbage, which would be used as infill at former tin mines in the islands, would be transported by sea.
Every day ships transport sand from Bangka, which was known as one of the world's largest tin producers, to the city for sale.
At present, some 5,000 tons of the city's garbage are taken to the city's main dump at Bantar Gebang in Bekasi mayoralty, while the remaining 1,000 tons are scattered on roads and rivers.
Bekasi municipality closed Bantar Gebang dump on Dec. 10 due to environmental damage. After intervention from the Ministry of Home Affairs and the House of Representatives it reopened the dump, pending the Jakarta administration's measures to comply with new terms in a new memorandum of understanding to be signed before the deadline of Jan.31.
But the city administration has accused the Bekasi mayoralty of blackmail and has considered closing the Bantar Gebang dump. It said that the mayoralty had even increased its demands, which included compensation of Rp 100 billion (US$10 million) and a hospital to be equipped with an x-ray facility and an emergency unit.
The administration claimed to have been preparing smaller dumps in the city's five mayoralties as alternatives to replace the 104-hectare Bantar Gebang, including Marunda, in North Jakarta and Tegal Alur in West Jakarta. But, as of Thursday, none of the dumps was ready to accommodate the city's trash.
Jakarta has set up a crash program for Marunda and Tegal Alur dumps, allocating Rp 18.5 billion and Rp 10 billion respectively for their preparation.
On Monday, Sutiyoso signed a memorandum of understanding with head of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Widjanarko Puspoyo to use the agency's 71-hectare site at Marunda as a garbage dump.
On the same day, hundreds of Marunda residents staged a protest at City Hall, rejecting the use of the island as a garbage dump.
Residents of Tegal Alur also objected to the plan, unless the city met their requirements, which included the construction of a three-meter wall separating the location from residential areas and the development of some public facilities.