An environmental group has called on the city administration to draft legislation that will encourage and empower community-base waste management.
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) spokesman Erwin Usman said Tuesday such legislation should lay out a road map based on incentives and disincentives, and mandate the city to make available technology and human resources for communities carrying out waste management, as regulated in the 2008 Waste Management Law.
Any failure to pass such legislation, Erwin went on, would paint the administration as “not supporting the waste management practices initiated at neighborhood level”.
Last month, he said, Walhi had conducted spot checks at a number of neighborhood units and schools that had carried out local waste management for more than three years, including in Grogol in West Jakarta, Tegal Parang and Kalibata in South Jakarta, and two high schools in North Jakarta.
“We can’t expect funding from the city if there’s no legal umbrella,” Erwin said.
He urged the city to involve the public in its drafting of the legislation, pointing out that residents of “green neighborhoods” could share their aspirations and experiences.
“Neighborhoods that have initiated good waste management systems in their areas need support in marketing their recycled goods, training and technology,” he said.
“But the administration doesn’t play a role in either making policy or carrying out real actions.”
Erwin claimed Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo had not taken any significant step in dealing with the 6,000 tons of waste generated daily citywide.
“The authorities are still stuck in the old mindset of relying on foreign expertise and their so-called sophisticated technology,” he said.
“Meanwhile, we consider that addressing the upstream issues — seeking sound legal basis, human resources and public support — is more important.”
Walhi also called on Fauzi to issue a gubernatorial decree to serve as a guideline for the city’s five municipalities and Thousand Islands regency to hold a public consultation when drafting the legislation.
As of the end of February, Walhi says, the city has only been able to reduce its garbage output by 7 percent, far less than the 15-20 percent reduction target stipulated in the 2009-2012 Medium-Term Development Plan.
City sanitation agency head Eko Bharuna Subroto and Jakarta Planning Agency head Nurfakih Wirawan could not be reached for comment.
S. Andyka, from the City Council, said legislation on waste management was not included in the priority list for deliberation this year.
“That being said, however, we still have the power to initiate legislation,” he told The Jakarta Post by phone.
The city’s garbage is currently trucked out to the Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi and the Cakung Cilincing landfill in North Jakarta.
An awful lot of waste still makes its way into rivers or is burned, despite a bylaw banning the torching of trash.
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