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Residents protest waste plan
The Depok administration's efforts to tackle the regency's waste problems by setting up waste-processing units (UPS) in residential areas have hit upon a stumbling block after hundreds of residents objected to the project
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The Depok administration's efforts to tackle the regency's waste problems by setting up waste-processing units (UPS) in residential areas have hit upon a stumbling block after hundreds of residents objected to the project.
Residents of Bukit Rivaria in Sawangan, Depok, protested against the construction of a UPS in their neighborhood, saying the administration had failed to consult with them on the matter, thus violating a 2008 law on waste management.
"We basically support the program, but there was no dialogue held with the residents before the administration set up the UPS in our neighborhood," Totok Towel, a resident, said recently.
The UPS is a 30-meter by 40-meter composting plant that also recycles inorganic waste from residential areas. Each unit can process 40 cubic meters of waste per day.
Totok said the UPS was located only 40 meters away from the nearest resident's home, adding the amount of waste produced daily by the residents was only 4 to 7 cubic meters.
"We are worried that trash from outside our area will be brought in to meet the UPS' processing capacity, thus piling up and ruining the beauty of our parks; moreover, it will jeopardize the health of residents," he said.
He added social problems could arise if trash pickers began flocking to the neighborhood to look for waste, disrupting the area's security in the process.
According to an environmental impact analysis, the project must be located at least a kilometer from residential areas, Totok added.
"The developers are also responsible for this mess, because they told us they were building a public facility here for the residents, but it's turned out to be a garbage dump," he said.
"We are not going anywhere if the UPS begins operating, because we can't afford to look for new homes," he said.
Fuad, head of the Rivaria residents community group (Iwari), said the residents had taken up the issue with the mayor's office and held three demonstrations to get the administration and developers to move the UPS elsewhere.
"If that doesn't work, we'll take this matter to court," he said.
He also said the developer had agreed to meet the residents' demands.
Around 1,000 families live in the area that could be affected by the problems caused by the UPS, he added.
Yusmanto, head of the Depok Sanitation and Environmental Agency's facility division, said the regency's landfill in Citayam was reaching overcapacity, thus making the construction of 60 UPS in residential areas crucial.
"The 10.6-hectare Citayam landfill must take around 4.2 million kilograms of trash per day, and it can't take that much longer. Therefore we need the UPS to lessen the burden on the landfill," he said.
He added the administration had met with community unit heads from Bukit Rivaria on Nov. 21 at the subdistrict office to discuss the UPS project.
"The reason we set up the UPS in residential areas is because the concept of the UPS is to recycle trash from households straight away," he said, adding it was for residents' own good.
Yusmanto also said residents had misidentified the UPS as a landfill, saying they should not worry about potential trash heaps because the UPS would not recycle more trash than the community could produce.
He added the waste would immediately be put in grinders and made into compost, which the residents could then use.
The administration will continue with the project, he went on, following the success of a pilot project. The first phase is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
"Our UPS pilot project in Sukatani village, Depok, has proven successful in reducing trash and helping the environment, without any residents complaining," Yusmanto said.
He added there were four stages in the UPS project under the regency's midterm plan. The first stage is the building of 20 UPS this year, 10 more next year, and another 30 within the next two years. The project will cost the regency an estimated Rp 17 billion (US$ 1.5 million).
