TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - No activities were at Bantargebang's Integrated Waste Management Facility (TPST) in Bekasi, West Java, despite the fact that officially, this is the first day that the management of the landfill is taken over by the City of Jakarta. The reason - no heavy machineries were available to support the operation of the landfill, which serves a vast part of the Greater Jakarta region.
"I haven't been able to do one thing because the trucks and machines that I use everyday, are nowhere to be found," said Joni, a 45-years of landfill operator to Tempo on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. "I have waited for four hours - but there are still no signs of these trucks and machines are going to ever come."
Another operator, 34-years old Sigit Purwanto, said that he had not seen any heavy machinery that he could use to unload the garbage he collected from across the city since last Monday - and he could only see all the garbage piling up in his truck. "I can't move these massive amounts by hand - so I'll just wait until the machines arrive," Sigit said.
In fact, many drivers are choosing to not return to work - as to date, they have been no indications about when the landfill will begin to operate as per usual. "I'd rather wait in my hometown, and return when they sort this mess out," said Ari, a garbage truck from Central Jakarta.
Based on Tempo's observation at 1:00 PM Western Indonesia Time (WIB), towering piles of garbage can be seen spilling all over the access road leading in and out of the Bantargebang's landfill. Truck drivers couldn't access the area where they are supposed to drop of the garbage, so they decided to just dump the garbage they collected from across the city around the gates of the landfill.
Members of Jakarta's Sanitation Agency said that they are still waiting for heavy machineries to arrive so they could begin to clear up the mess. According to Kurnia, a Jakarta Sanitation Agency Staff, 15 units are due to arrive at Bantargebang. "Some are already on its' way," the official said.
ADI WARSONO
