Bekasi City Administration Closes 88 Illegal Garbage Dumps

TEMPO.CO, Bekasi - Bekasi City Environmental Service has closed 88 illegal garbage dumps that spread evenly and polluted the environment in 12 local sub-districts.

“These illegal garbage dumps are the act of polluting the local environment. We are following up on the report and we have closed it,” said Head of the Bekasi City Environmental Service, Jumhana Luthfi, Tuesday, September 18.

According to him, since 2014, the Environmental Service has received reports that there were around 120 illegal garbage dumps that were managed independently by local residents. It was known from the results of mapping in Bekasi City.

“This no-man's-land is then controlled by scavengers and collectors of used goods to make business. Spreading day by day, until there are illegal garbage dumps,” he said.

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Jumhana also realized that the illegal garbage dumps were also often caused by the absence of temporary garbage disposal facilities (TPS) in residential areas. Now Bekasi City Administration has closed 88 illegal garbage dumps.

“Gradually through concrete disseminations and actions, we managed to reduce these points so that only 32 points remain,” he said.

Some residents refused if the illegal TPS were dismantled because, in some neighborhood associations (RT), there were no garbage dumps.

“The garbage problem is indeed a scourge for everyone. In Bekasi City, the total waste production reaches 1,700 tons per day. That is not comparable to the capacity of 3,5 hectares of Sumur Batu TPA with a maximum capacity of 650 tons per day,” he said.

Lutfi said in order to reduce the waste production, he would encourage a number of programs, one of which is a waste bank that applies the principles of Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle (3R).

“What is effective now is the empowerment of 1,030 garbage banks spread across Bekasi City,” he said.

ANTARA