Waste-Generated Power Plant Begins December

Friday, 14 November, 2008 | 21:19 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The selection of investors bidding for a waste technology management project at Bantar Gebang disposal site will be determined next week after the Jakarta administration completes its paperwork next week. Selected investors will manage a waste-generated power plant worth of 900 billion for the next 15 years. The project is due to begin this December. 

According to Jakarta Sanitation Service chief Eko Bharuna, three investors have been selected out of a total 23 companies joining the tender. "We have the winner and the decosopm will be issued next week so they can start working," Eko said yesterday. 

The three companies still being processed are PT Godang Tua Jaya, Total Strategic Investment, and PT Patriot Bangkit Bekasi consortiums. The three consortiums are expected to obtain funding from foreign companies. 

Eko stressed that the winner of the tender will be assessed by their technological capabilities and their sources of funding. Additionally, transportation costs must be in line with the government's regulation, which is Rp 103.000 per ton of waste. "All three companies offer electrical management technology. Technically, they are different, but the output is the same," Eko said. 

In Bekasi, the local administration is cooperating with the Public Works Department to turn waste from Sumur Batu into organic fertilizers and coal briquettes. The total investment project is Rp 1,7 billion. 

The management of waste using bio-fermentation technology began yesterday. The production capacity is 25 tons of waste per day, dividing 15 tons of waste to be produced as organic waste and 10 tons as coal briquettes. 

Susmono, director-general for Environment Rehabilitation and Settlement Development said turning waste into useful materials is a way to reduce the amount of open dumping garbage in Sumur Batu, Bekasi. In a day, 1.200 tons of garbage are dumped on the site. "It is processed until the piles of garbage are gone," Susmono said. 

Bekasi mayor Mochtar Mohamad is optimistic that the bio-fermentation technology will be the biggest contributor of revenues in the region. "This will be a continuous project," he said. 

FERY FIRMANSYAH|HAMLUDDIN