Tender open for Bekasi trash dump

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration is planning reopen tender for the management of Bekasi's Bantar Gebang dump this week, after the current operator PT Patriot Bekasi Bangkit was deemed incapable of managing the site.

"We considered their work unsatisfying so we didn't extend their contract, which ended in May," said Eko Bharuna, the head of Jakarta's Sanitation Agency.

The company, which has operated the Bantar Gebang dump since July 2004, will continue to manage the dump until a new operator is found. However, all costs and financial risks have become the city's responsibility.

On Sunday around 200 garbage trucks queued for hours before being able to dump garbage at Bantar Gebang. The delay resulted in much of Jakarta's garbage being stuck in the city that day.

"(Sunday's incident) showed the site has not been well managed," Eko said.

Eko said some standards had been set for companies seeking tender, including the provision of capital and more adequate equipment.

"We don't want garbage to pile up in the city, like what happened in Bandung. Therefore we're trying to do our best in picking out the future operator," Eko said.

Some parts of Bandung, West Java, were filled with garbage in 2006 after the partial collapse of the Leuwigajah dump due to erosion.

In December 2001 Jakarta also suffered a garbage crisis for a few days when the Bekasi administration, which then managed the Bantar Gebang dump, refused to allow Jakarta to use the dump over a disagreement about the amount of compensation to be paid by Jakarta.

The 108-hectare Bantar Gebang dump accommodates at least 6,000 tons of Jakarta's garbage every day.

Piles of garbage were could still be seen in Jakarta's Kebayoran Lama market Tuesday, following Sunday's truck queue incident at Bantar Gebang. But the trash appeared to be gone as of Wednesday.

Suparjo, a local garbage truck driver said, "Usually, there are eight trucks taking waste from the market every day, but on Sunday and Monday only two trucks were operating here and we took the garbage to a temporary dump nearby."