TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The Bekasi administration said it was willing to receive the Jakarta government's used garbage trucks for retrenchment. "The [Jakarta] governor wants to get rid of the garbage trucks, and I said, 'Don't.' Just give them to us," Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi said on Thursday, September 18, 2014.
According to Rahmat, the Jakarta administration said the garbage trucks had been deemed unfit for use as they were no longer capable of transporting garbage from Jakarta to Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, which was only 50 kilometers off the capital. The Jakarta government plans on replacing them with some new ones.
"If they are used here, it is only 10-15 kilometers away from Bantar Gebang," Rahmat said.
Rahmat added if the trucks were granted to his administration, he would station the trucks at a number of areas closer to the landfill, including in Bantargebang, Mustika Jaya, Jatiasih, Jatisampurna, South Bekasi and Rawalumbu districts.
Rahmat said the trucks would be of great assistance to the Bekasi administration, even if it only got 50 of them. "It's better than buying [a new unit] for Rp500 million," he said.
Bekasi Sanitary Agency secretary Hani Syswadi said the municipality only had around 144 garbage trucks-142 of them were operational. "Ideally, we need around 200-240 trucks," he said.
ADI WARSONO
