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Overloaded landfill gives income to Depok scavengers
Dump trucks could be seen lining up against the backdrop of an overloaded landfill, waiting for their turn to unload the waste they had collected throughout, Depok, West Java, on Wednesday
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span>Dump trucks could be seen lining up against the backdrop of an overloaded landfill, waiting for their turn to unload the waste they had collected throughout, Depok, West Java, on Wednesday.
The Cipayung landfill was a hive of activity, with truck drivers and excavator operators working behind the wheel, while field officers directed operations and scavengers rummaged through the waste.
Amid the mountains of trash that could reach as high as 20 meters, Armani could be seen sorting through a pile of rubbish she had collected at the site, dressed in her work boots and caping (cone shaped traditional hat) to protect her from the sun.
The 56-year-old has worked as a scavenger at the site for some 30 years.
She said her work day started at around 8 a.m. and ended around 4 p.m. She did not mind the hard labor, nor the smell.
“I do not want a different line of work. I’m comfortable here. They say it smells, but I am used to it,” said Armani, who earns around Rp 50,000 (US$3.66) per day, or around Rp 1 million each month selling recyclable waste.
Her children once begged her to stop working at the site but she refused, as she needed the money to support herself, especially after her husband passed away.
Now, her five children depend on the landfill for their livelihoods, with two of them working as sweepers and two others as dump truck drivers. Her second child does not work at the site but her husband makes a living as a dump truck driver as well.
Armani’s family is one of many that make a livelihood from the site.
Rosani Saalih, a seller-turned-scavenger, also rummages for plastic bottles and cardboard that she can sell to make money.
The 53-year-old, who only started working as a scavenger at the site three months ago, said she preferred her current job than her previous one as it provided her with a steady income.
“I wish I had known it’s better here than selling. When I was younger it seemed embarrassing [to work as a scavenger]. Yet working as a seller, we need capital and sometimes we don’t make a return,” said Rosani, who earns Rp 100,000 to Rp 130,000 a day as a scavenger.
Her husband is also in the same line of work and, combined, the two of them make up to Rp 3 million per month, enough to keep a roof over their heads and food on their table.
Rosani said she was glad to no longer have to compete with other shop owners who had more capital than her. Scavenging also allowed her to be free from debt, which would have been less likely had she continued to run a shop.
Besides providing a livelihood for scavengers, the landfill also provides employment in maintenance. One local hired to oversee the landfill’s operation is Ganin Ahmad.
Ganin, 60, has worked as a field officer at the site since 2006. His work involves overseeing the hundreds of tons of trash that are unloaded daily and making sure the operations run smoothly, as well as coordinating with scavengers.
“The negative aspect [of the site] is that it smells, but the positive aspect is that it provides jobs,” said Ganin, who earns Rp 105,000 per day.
Ganin, who lives with his wife just 50 meters from the site, said he should have retired by now but was thankful to still be contracted by the Depok Environment and Sanitation Department (DLHK) as he still needed to earn a living.
He added that the agency had a policy that allowed the children of employees at the site to replace their parents when their parents reached retirement age.
Acting head of the Depok DLHK Ety Suryahati said there had been a recent uptick in the amount of trash transported to the Cipayung landfill. Typically, an average of 1,300 tons of trash is unloaded at the site each day. However that number has increased to 2,100 tons after the recent floods in Greater Jakarta, kompas.com reported.
Overcapacity has been a problem at the site for years as it has become a dumping ground for 11 districts in the satellite city of Jakarta. There has been talk of transporting trash to the Lulut-Nambo landfill in Bogor, West Java.
“Hopefully, by June or July, trash will be transported there [Lulut-Nambo], as much as 700 tons of trash per day,” Ety said recently as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com. (ydp)
