Anies Baffled by Bekasi Mayor`s Rage on Bantargebang Issue

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan was angered by Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi’s statement who threatened to shut down the Bantar Gebang Integrated Waste Treatment Area (TPST Bantar Gebang) upon funding woes between the two regions.

Effendi pressed the Jakarta administration to immediately come up with a decision regarding the partnership grant for the TPST Bantar Gebang, the location where Jakarta’s trashes end up at.

“[Effendi] talks as if Jakarta administration is irresponsible. The fact is that Jakarta has fulfilled all of its responsibilities that corroborates with the initial deal [with Bekasi],” said Governor Anies at City Hall on Sunday, October 21.

According to the governor, the Rp2 trillion funding application submitted by the Bekasi Administration is a non-mandatory partnership fund. Anies Baswedan said that it has nothing to do with Jakarta’s trashes being thrown at Bantar Gebang, which is located in Bekasi.

“Jakarta’s responsibility with the Bekasi administration is just the Rp138 billion compensation with an additional 2017 debt of Rp67 billion. And we have fulfilled that,” said Anies Baswedan yesterday.

Reported earlier, Mayor Rahmat Effendi was enraged after his city will receive no more partnership grants from Anies Baswedan`s administration and will only receive Rp194 billion grants in compensation for accommodating Jakarta’s numerous wastes. Effendi decided to withhold Jakarta’s dump trucks in Bekasi as a form of protest.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH