President plants mangrove trees in Angke

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 06/07/2010 11:43 AM

Planting season: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plants a mangrove tree in the Angke ecotourism park in North Jakarta on Monday as part of efforts to rehabilitate the mangrove forest. Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a number of Cabinet members planted mangrove trees in the Angke ecotourism park in North Jakarta on Monday as part of efforts to rehabilitate the mangrove forest.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said his office had struck an agreement with the Jakarta administration to plant 9 million mangrove trees in the coming five years.

“We have organized tree-planting activities here in Angke Bay, in Ancol and in other places several times ,” Zulkifli said as quoted by Antara.

He added that garbage was the most responsible for the destruction of the mangrove forest along Jakarta coast.

“Our main enemy is garbage. Jakarta Bay is like a supermarket, where beds, pillows and garbage can be found,” he said.

Other officials joining the tree planting were Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo.

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Jakarta to spearhead environmental program

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 12/26/2008 11:21 AM  

On Wednesday, the central government and environmentalists launched the 2009 Green Hope program, aiming to mobilize public participation in global conservation efforts. 

The national program will include a yearlong calendar of environmental activities involving residents. 

"We have regular car restriction days in some main thoroughfares, but we need more activities that also involve non-governmental institutions as organizers," Jakarta Environment Management Board (BPLHD) chairman Budirama Natakusumah said. 

"Environmental programs are a big issue in the country and the government cannot work on them alone." 

Launched at the State Ministry for the Environment in Jakarta, 2009 Green Hope is a nationwide campaign to educate people about environmental issues. 

The opening activity is scheduled for Dec. 28 at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, Central Jakarta, which will include a fun bike program, a photo exhibition on environmental issues, and performances. 

The projects sponsors include World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia, Civil Society Forum, Science Esthetic Technology, Bike to Work and Pelangi Indonesia Foundation. 

Hendry Bastaman, deputy minister of communication and people's empowerment said his office was still looking for the most effective way to communicate with the general public regarding environmental issues. 

"We know it is not easy for people to digest environmental issues. We have tried for years. We are sure Green Hope will be effective in promoting the importance of protecting our natural world," Hendry said. 

Both the government and activists in Jakarta say water shortages, lack of water catchment areas, pollution and environmental damage will remain serious problems next year. 

"Jakartans are still smoking in forbidden places and disposing of garbage anywhere they please. They still waste water, electricity and fuel," Budirama said. 

"Most residents are somehow reluctant to make the city cleaner and greener, even though they know and aware about it." 

According to Elshinta of WWF, people were now trying to survive in this world by damaging the environment. Many environmental problems were man-made, she said. 

"Ready or not people have to face water shortages, land shortages, deforestation and climate change as consequences. 

"We have to do something because the condition of our environment is getting worse. Do something, because the earth can not wait," she said. (naf)

Karinda Garden encourages household composting

Ani Suswantoro, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Lebak Bulus, S. Jakarta

On a Saturday morning in early January, Sri Murniati, 63, a former Health Ministry official in East Java, spoke on compost making to a group of participants at a workshop. Her husband, Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo, 72, who was forestry minister from 1993-1998, accompanied her.

The training workshop was conducted in an open, thatched-roof hut in their nursery, where birds sang and the breeze blew. The couple's nursery, Karinda Garden, is in the Bumi Karang Indah housing complex of Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, where they sell medicinal plants, flowers, seedlings and of course, compost.

The lush Karinda Garden, where flowers bloom year-round, is testament to the benefits of fertilizing with compost. In the background is the Djamaludin residence. (JP/Ani Suswantoro)

"In big city like Jakarta, with more than 12 million inhabitants, waste management is very crucial. It is not the government's responsibility alone, but ours as well," Murniati told the participants.

"Roughly, Jakarta waste is 65 percent organic, 25 percent recyclable and 10 percent dangerous and poisonous waste. If we can take care of our organic waste, the government's burden will be lighter. The money allocated to treat waste can be used for other purposes," she said.

Murniati has heard various reasons people have given as to why they do not compost: that they are too busy,disgusting, they already pay for waste collection and that they can buy compost instead of making it.

"However, the main point is concern for the environment," she stressed.

When this theory segment was over, Djamaludin escorted the participants to inspect the phases of composting.

"Correct composting will not create a foul odor at all, but will smell like the original material (fresh soil)," he said.

"We have filled this nursery with flowers, so that it will look colorful to impress visitors and to show them that composting does not mean an ugly, disgusting job, but an easy and valuable activity," Djamaludin told this writer after the course.

The Djamaludins moved in 2000 to the Karang Tengah area of Lebak Bulus, where they were disappointed to discover that quality compost for their gardening was unavailable. There, they also observed that vegetable hawkers discarded much organic waste, and were thus prompted to try composting themselves.

The couple researched information on effective and efficient composting until they stumbled across the Takakura Magic Basket, created by Japanese-born Koji Takakura.

Since then, the environmentally conscious couple have shared their experience with others, in the hope that they also would compost to care for the environment.

To date, more than 4,000 participants, ranging from kindergartners to professionals from various institutions, have participated in their biweekly composting workshop.

"I am very happy when, upon completing the workshop, people really start practicing what they have learned. I sometimes call them to check their progress," said Murniati, to which her husband Djamaludin responded by smiling and nodding in agreement.

For more information and to arrange a composting workshop with the Djamaludins, phone (021) 75909167.

Simple steps to composting

Facts

1. Takakura composting utilizes aerobic microbes, which need water, oxygen and correct temperature; frequent mixing helps supply oxygen.
2. Correct composting generates warmth and moisture when mixed.
3. Microbes need carbon-rich materials -- dry, coarse, rich in fiber and are brown in color (dry leaves, dry grass, rice hull, corn husks, sawdust, straw) -- as energy source
4. Microbes need nitrogen-rich materials -- have high water content and usually are green (vegetables, fruits, kitchen waste, egg shells, used tea leaves, coffee grinds) -- to propagate
5. One part brown material mixed with two parts green make the best compost
6. Correct compost smells like healthy soil

Takakura composting

1. Prepare Takakura Magic Basket
2. Use mature compost (6-8 kg) as compost starter
3. Cut small pieces (2 x 2 cm) of organic waste (fruit peels, egg shells, garden and kitchen leaves, rice, vegetables); discard broth in food for composting; do not use bones, shrimp or leftover meats/animal products in compost -- they attract flies
4. Make a well in the starter, put in waste in and mix
5. Cover basket to warm mixture and prevent flies from laying eggs
6. Optimum humidity is achieved when compost mixture is damp, but produces no dripping water when squeezed. Add rice hull or dry leaves if compost is watery, or sprinkle on a little water if compost is dry.
7. Stir regularly 2-3 times a week. Do not add more waste to a full basket -- remove the mixture to a bigger composter to add waste.
8. Compost is ripe when its temperature, appearance and smell resemble soil: in about eight weeks

Tips

1. Get the entire family involved
2. Put a pair of scissors on the dining table and get everyone to cut up their share of waste
3. Place Takakura baskets in several strategic areas in/around the house; those who enter the area are responsible for mixing the compost

-- Ani Suswantoro

Thousands march against REDD

Luh De Suryani, Contributor The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

More than 2,000 members of local and international civil society organizations gathered at Bajra Sandhi park in Puputan Renon, Denpasar, on Saturday morning to protest against the proposed carbon trade scheme known as REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

"REDD no, climate justice yes," shouted Nyoman Sri Widhiyanti, director of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), as she lead the march.

Nyoman said the carbon trading scheme would only benefit developed countries and large-scale corporations.

"This is an unjust scheme for indigenous communities in developing countries," she said.

"Stop talking about business, think and talk about the fate of the local people," said a representative from the Indonesian Alliance for Indigenous Communities (AMAN).

The Saturday gathering involved AMAN members, as well as farmers, craftsmen and fishermen, and members from traditional communities, an international farmer's network, the Korean youth forum, Greenpeace, Via La Campasina and many others.

The group marched from the Bajra Sandhi Monument in Renon, Denpasar, for almost an hour to reach the Bali Provincial Legislative Council building.

Hildebrando Velez G, a speaker from Via La Campesina, said climate justice was a more important issue than climate change.

"The Latin American countries and other developing countries in the world must wake up ... and fight against capitalism, which endangers people's rights," Velez said.

Chalid Muhammad, executive director of Walhi, said talks, discussions and negotiations at the current UN conference on climate change in Nusa Dua had so far only focused on trade issues rather than climate justice.

Taufiqurohman, a 72-year-old farmer from Bandung, took part in the activity.

"I lost 26 family members in the landslide at Leuwigajah dump site in Bandung, West Java, which claimed 153 lives," he said.

The Bandung administration and other provincial administrations in Indonesia have failed to successfully manage garbage disposal.

"They don't care about people living adjacent to dump sites," he said.

Taufiqurohman and others questioned the ability of the Indonesian government to handle the delicate and complicate carbon trade scheme.

"How can Indonesia deal with such a difficult thing?" argued Chalid, adding the garbage issue alone was a never-ending problem for many cities in Indonesia.

Kartini, a lecturer from Udayana University, criticized the Indonesian government's agriculture policy, which she said affected farmers, and more importantly, the environment.

"The government has long been pushing farmers to use chemicals to boost their harvests," she said.

As a result, she said, the once fertile farming lands in many parts of Indonesia are now saturated with heavily toxic substances that can adversely affect people's health and the ecosystem.

The gathering involved numerous public figures such as actress-turned-activist Rieke Dyah Pitaloka, presenter Tantowi Yahya, singer Franky Sahilatua and other celebrities.

"This is the right moment for Balinese people and other people around the country to voice their opinions," Widhiyanti said.

Chalid added the aim of the gathering was to put strong public pressure on all leaders and policy makers at the UN conference.

Related Article:

RI regrets some developed nations' stand on its REDD scheme

Administration tells residents to dig in

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration has requested the public dig one million biopores around homes and office buildings, to help the city combat floods.

Head of Jakarta's Environmental Management Agency, Budirama Natakusumah, told reporters Wednesday the city administration would launch a biopore program Saturday at Soemantri Brojonegoro youth center in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

A biopore is an organic waste disposal system which serves the dual purpose of allowing water to seep into the ground more easily.

They can be made simply using a specially designed hand-operated iron bore which drills into the ground, and creates a 1 meter-deep hole with a diameter of between 10 and 30 centimeters.

The hole can be used to dispose of organic waste such as leftover chicken bones, rotten vegetables or fallen leaves.

The buried waste attracts ants, worms and a variety of underground fauna which turn the garbage into compost. Animals may also create tunnels to access the waste which in turn allows rainwater to be absorbed into groundwater more easily.

"This is society's best tool to help the city combat flooding," Budirama said.

"The holes are very easy to make since one tool can be shared by hundreds of households," he said, adding that the tools would be distributed to some 200 community unit chiefs during Saturday's event.

The event will involve several non-government organizations and university students who will assist local communities to make and maintain the biopores.

The technique was first made public by Kamir Brata, a researcher from Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), last year and has been applied in Bogor.

On April 22, Bogor city administration ordered the digging of 5,250 biopore holes in 21 of its sub-districts.

As of June, the city had dug more then 22,000 holes.

Kamir has been promoting the technology to Jakarta since.

"The problem with Jakarta's flood mitigation technology is that they are still separating water containment and waste disposal. These two areas are closely related and need to be addressed simultaneously," he said.

He claims to have introduced the technique to Jakarta officials around a year ago, but said he kept getting snubbed.

"I guess they thought the technology was too simple," he told The Jakarta Post in a separate interview.

"But it's good they're adopting it now, they are finally coming around," he said.

Budirama said the city also wants to build absorption wells under the city's flood prone streets but was waiting for the Jakarta Public Works Agency to release a concrete plan. (anw)

Palu government aims to turn trash into cash

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu

An increasing burden for the city, Palu municipality in Central Suluwesi is making efforts to use its garbage to produce methane, an alternative fuel source.

To realize the program the local administration, through PT Palu Cipta Metana, has signed a memorandum of understanding with PT Global Eko Rescue Foundation Ltd. in Jakarta.

"By our plans the project will commence at the end of the year or early next year," Palu Deputy Mayor Suardin Suebo told The Jakarta Post at Kawatuna subdistrict garbage dump in East Palu, on Monday.

Suardin said the company would build 40 gas wells around the site to collect methane.

The wells, each 15 meters deep, are expected to produce some 395,000 cubic meters of gas annually.

Palu city's 630 cubic meters of trash a day is believed to produce tons of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and oxygen every day.

"The city will raise an estimated US$1.2 billion annually from carbon trade using the methane," Suardin said.

Major cities in Indonesia produce, on average, 10 million tons of garbage annually, with a total methane output of 404 million tons a year. This methane could be used to generate some 79 megawatts of electricity, he said.

Suardin said the total income from carbon trading could amount to up to Rp 118 billion (US$13.1 million) a year.

Income from methane production used for power generation could reach Rp 162 billion a year, and an equal amount from carbon trade, he said.

Suardin said the methane produced at the Kawatuna garbage dump was estimated to be able to generate 2,780,000 kilowatt hours (KWH) of electricity annually.

Assuming a single 450W-capacity household uses electricity for 24 hours, it would use around 10.8 KWH per day, or 3,942 KWH annually.

"Thus, we can meet the power needs ... for 705 households in Palu... Palu could earn some Rp 96.8 billion annually from electricity. This is what I call making cash from trash," Suardin said.

Education helps improve lives of city's poorest

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post

Who has been the most effective agent of change in the campaign for cleaner lifestyles in Jakarta's subdistricts?

In North Jakarta's Teluk Gong it has been the children. Chirpy, curious, innocent children.

Months ago, none in the slum had any knowledge of sanitation or garbage sorting. The children were among the first to introduce the words as they brought home plastic bags labeled "paper", "tin" and "plastic".

Many children now also remind their mothers and fathers to wash their hands before eating simply by singing a song taught in a small bamboo hut beside the river in Teluk Gong.

Children like these are the ones who make the efforts of non-governmental organizations such as the Emmanuel Foundation and Mercy Corps worthwhile.

Living with substandard sanitation and limited water resources, slum dwellers -- especially children -- are among those prone to infectious diseases.

And children are indeed the best group to initiate a clean-lifestyle campaign in the community.

"Who knows why we have to wash our hands before eating?" Emannuel Foundation social worker Mita Sirait asked a gathering of Teluk Gong children last Friday afternoon.

Right hands quickly raced upward for Mita's attention while answers were shouted out before she had the chance to choose a child to answer.

After the fun and educational session finished, the children ran to a used plastic bucket that had been converted into a water container outside the hut to wash their hands -- a habit the children had developed and were spreading through their community.

Outside their homes, Mercy Corps has provided water containers labeled with the advice "wash your hands before eating".

"They (Mercy Corps workers) give us cooking oil in return for our getting ourselves used to the habit of hand washing," said Nurbiyanti, a housewife in the area.

When providing aid to those living in slums, incentives are highly useful in introducing the concept of a healthier lifestyle -- both for adults and children.

"Who has finished hanging up their garbage sorting bag in their house?" asked another tutor, though this time only a few shy hands flew into the air.

Seeing that the children were not so eager to respond this time, the tutor explained the advantages of garbage sorting using examples such as last year's fatal garbage slide in Leuwigajah in Bandung, West Java.

"Remember what I told you? You can make money by sorting your own garbage," the tutor said.

"I made Rp 5,000 from selling the plastic bottles that I sorted out at home," Budi, one of the children, said confidently.

The hygiene education programs have been underway for several months now and the changes have been quite apparent.

"At least the children have been quite used to hand washing and some have even started garbage sorting. It is a bit difficult to educate the adults and expect them to change as quick as the kids," said Emannuel Foundation public health engineer Arum Wulandari.

'Greenwashing' Jakarta -- it's just not enough

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Singapore

The cities of Jakarta and Surabaya recently signed the Urban Environmental Accord -- an building and construction-related agreement which has already seen Surabaya win an ASEAN energy award for its environmentally friendly Wonokoyo building.

But experts agree Jakarta has a long way to go before it can claim all new buildings under construction in the city would comply with international standards for energy conservation or waste reduction.

"We have only recently implemented a requirement for building rooftops to have some sort of greenery," Jakarta urban architecture advisory board member Moh. Danisworo said.

"But, that is not the real concept of a sustainable building."

The award-winning Wonokoyo building in Surabaya is designed to annually consume 88 kilowatts per hour (kWh) per square meter (sq m) -- which is at a far lower rate than the Asean standard of 200 kWh/sq m/year.

Experts agree the environmentally friendly movement is often used by developers and builders as a marketing gimmick -- or something called "greenwashing".

"You cannot claim to have a green building if the only effort you make is to plant trees or use water-saving toilets," New Zealand architect Craig Price said.

"That is what's called greenwashing."

While Jakarta's office buildings and high-rises may be adorned with lush green plants and sometimes even draped in green attire, the city is yet to include environmentally friendly features into its building codes, leaving it well behind developed countries globally.

But Jakarta does have plans to green-rate its buildings, said a team member with the Urban Environmental Accord adoption, Andono Warih.

"Technical details for green rating will soon be included in Jakarta's currently revised building code ordinance," Andono said.

And Danisworo said new requirements would include an increased green space ratio and limited basement coverage for buildings occupying flood-prone areas.

Flood is an issue Jakarta needs to tackle immediately, but "going green" goes much further than that, he said.

Research by the US Department of Energy showed commercial and residential buildings consume close to 40 percent of total energy consumption.

They use 70 percent of electricity, 40 percent of raw materials, 12 percent of fresh water supplies and account for 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Furthermore, buildings generate 136 million tons of construction and demolition waste.

World Green Building Council said green buildings were potentially the most cost effective buildings and were a relatively quick way of reducing CO2 emissions.

For Jakarta, two of the most important enviro-targets included reducing the city's CO2 emissions and decreasing residential and commercial water wastage, experts said.

Because the city is a tropical metropolis where average temperatures range between 23 and 37 degrees Celsius, it's a well-known fact that office building managers are continually asked to ensure tenants are comfortable enough to work.

Experts agree that instead of making sure the structure itself enables a healthier microclimate, facility managements tend to rely on air-conditioning, which leads to massive energy consumption -- unless supported by eco-friendly architecture.

The total cost of air-conditioning could reach up to 60 percent of total electricity costs.

According to a research by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), only one in seven buildings in the city embraced thermal comfort with low energy consumption.

"It is costly to maintain conventional non-environmentally friendly buildings -- but cost is also our main concern in constructing eco-friendly buildings," Danisworo said.

"The level of awareness is just not there yet."

Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) chairman Lukman Purnomosidi said it depends what perspective you use when it comes to weighing up the expenses associated with eco-friendly buildings.

According to Autodesk vice president Phillip Bernstein, a green building costs between 10 percent and 15 percent more during the design stage compared to conventional buildings.

They also cost between five and 10 percent more during the construction stage, Bernstein said.

"Some of the best green buildings reduce energy consumption by up to 50 percent and water usage by up to 80 percent."

And Price said some buildings that fall under the category of cost premium buildings had their investment paid back in five to seven years."

For developers looking for a quick yield -- long term investment in enviro-friendly designs, materials or technology is not a priority.

Indonesian Society of Civil and Structural Engineers chairman Davy Sukamta said developers were mostly concerned about the upfront investment required.

"Current efforts are limited to choosing energy-saving air conditioning, integrated lighting and limited intelligent building systems," Davy said.

"Supposedly, we could also take into account building materials used and the energy consumed in manufacturing and transporting them to building site," he said.

But Davy said this was not likely to occur with out some much-needed support from Jakartans and their administration.

Because the building and construction industry is predominantly led by the private sector, Bernstein said Jakarta's effort to go green "must come from the bottom up".

Possible features for green buildings:

* Optimized use of daylight and controlled solar access
* Photocell external lighting controls
* Air purging system
* Variable outdoor air flow rates
* Non occupied AC set back modes
* Water saving fittings
* Environmentally preferable materials selection
* Pneumatic waste conveyance system
* Rainwater harvesting and recycling

Source: Singapore's Building and Construction Authority-Autodesk Sustainable Building Seminar

Bogor joins global green movement

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Bogor is joining the growing global movement to fight global warming and reverse climate change.

Along with Banda Aceh Mayor Mawardy Nurdin and representatives of 30 environmental management agencies nationwide, Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto on late Monday signed a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The deal, called the Bogor Declaration, was signed after the close of a workshop on regional policies for protecting the environment.

The workshop was organized by the Bogor municipal administration, the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the State Ministry for the Environment.

Bogor administration's assistant for social and economic affairs, Indra M. Roesli, said activities in urban areas were producing large amounts of greenhouse gasses and these gasses were only increasing.

"Also the use of energy in urban areas is not efficient, resulting in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. To deal with global warming, we need local initiatives, a commitment from all parties and strong leadership," he said.

The Bogor Declaration binds signatories to reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by companies and individuals, improve energy efficiency, develop biofuels, improve transportation systems and focus on waste management.

Indra said the signatories would reassemble to draft their next step, as well as to brainstorm on local policies for responding to global warming.

"We will involve all urban residents in listing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and making personal targets and plans for reducing emissions, and delivering regular reports on these targets," he said.

Environmental rating system 'needs weight, credibility'

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More weight and sterner consequences tied to the government's annual environmental rating system for industries should guarantee greener corporate ambitions and action against non-compliance, stakeholders said Tuesday.

The Office of the State Minister for the Environment resumed in 2002 use of the PROPER rating system, which assesses industries in terms of their waste management and corporate environmental responsibility. The system later grades businesses into one of five different color groups indicating their compliance to the required standards.

The office has already covered 521 companies operating in various industries and expects to assess a further 1,000 next year.

Green activist Mas Achmad Santosa from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law said that for PROPER to succeed, four approaches must be adopted: command and control, behavioral, incentive and public pressure.

"These four need integrating. The PROPER that I see now still relies on incentives and public pressure, but it has yet to spark awareness within the industries that would eventually lead to green behavior," he told a discussion on revitalizing the PROPER system.

Santosa added: "The failure to carry out legal enforcement against unruly companies turns around the credibility PROPER is seeking to establish.

"There should be a (premise) that not taking PROPER seriously ends in facing harsh sanctions. But from what I've seen, very few of the black cases go to court," he said, referring to the categorization of "black" used to indicate total disobedience to environmental standards.

Only companies stamped "black" for two consecutive years are brought to court. The other color codes, from least to most severe, are gold, green, blue and red.

Environmental activists, Santosa said, are of the view that industries in the country abide by environmental laws to evade liability, not to help raise awareness of sustainable development and the fragility of ecosystems.

Bien Subiantoro of state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia said the bank uses PROPER as a factor in considering loan applications made by firms.

"The way PROPER is prepared and its position in front of the industries should be well-put and independent (from the reviewed company)," he said.

Syamsul Ma'arif, an environmental consultant for Bandung-based textile exporter PT Daliatex Kesuma, said the environment office should collaborate more closely with local administrations to monitor industries throughout the country.

He said the provision of quality staffers to assist industries in reaching "gold" status was of great importance.

"Being 'red' or 'green' can lead to two things; either it will boost the firms to upgrade their environmental bars or bring them down as it puts more of a burden on them and effects their competitiveness," he said.

Rasio Ridho Sani of the PROPER team said the rating system was implemented to motivate industries to establish and maintain environment-minded standards of operation, in line with calls by the public and shareholders for greener business practices.

Jakarta Bay end destination for much of city's trash

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Thirteen rivers flowing north to Jakarta Bay bring at least 14,000 cubic meters of mostly household garbage each day, or about half of the total of 28,435 cu m of garbage that pollutes the sea.

Head of the pollution control unit at the City Environment Management Board (BPLHD) Ridwan Panjaitan said based on a recent study most of the floating garbage in Jakarta Bay was made up of plastic products.

"Fifty four percent of the floating garbage in Jakarta Bay is made up of plastics and the 13 rivers continue to transport a huge amount of trash," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The study said 24 percent of waste was from wood-related products but the remainder was made up of rubber and garment material.

The Kepulauan Seribu regency regularly deployed four boats and a barge with the capacity to hold 40 tons to clean up the sea before disposing of garbage at Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi, Ridwan said.

"It is a boring job for the administration but few households care about treating their domestic trash and many simply throw it in the rivers."

The correct treatment of waste at the household level would be key to improving waste management in the capital, he said.

The administration last year allocated Rp 10 billion (US$1.1 million) to research the chronic problem of waste in Jakarta Bay.

"We are still formulating a plan of action to settle Jakarta Bay's problems," Ridwan said.

He said his office would try to clean Pantai Indah Kapuk in North Jakarta as a pilot project.

"Through this project we will determine who should filter the garbage in the river and who should be responsible for its transportation to the dump," he said.

The administration has long been under pressure to treat its growing waste, which is mostly domestic garbage.

The capital currently produces more than 6,000 tons of garbage per day and dumps it to Bantar Gebang sanitary landfill.

The increase of garbage in Jakarta Bay came after the administrations of Jakarta, Banten and Bogor agreed to rehabilitate the rivers.

Under the 2006 agreement, it is Jakarta's responsibility to increase the quality of Ciliwung River, Banten's responsibility to fix Cisadane River and West Java province's to clean the Citarum River.

Environmentalist said the garbage pollution in Jakarta Bay would further damage coral reefs and endanger turtles.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said the poor coordination of authorities was the main reason the waste problem remained unresolved in Jakarta Bay.

"Maintenance of the river is under the Public Works Ministry while the quality of the water in the river is handled by the State Ministry for the Environment," Walhi executive director for Jakarta Slamet Daroyni said.

"But it is not clear who is responsible for the waste in the rivers."

There are 13 rivers that pass through Jakarta and West Java provinces, which means the main responsibility should be in the hands of the central government, he said.

Slamet said he was worried the city sanitation agency could not treat the waste in the sea because it could not solve dry land waste problems.

He also asked the administration to tightly monitor companies operating near the rivers.

City to build more recycling plants

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration is planning to build another three recycling plants in the city next year, a city official said.

"We're planning to build the three recycling plants in Duri Kosambi (West Jakarta), Pulo Gebang (East Jakarta) and Marunda (North Jakarta)," sanitation agency head Eko Bharuna told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.

Jakarta currently has only one recycling plant, located in Cakung Cilincing, North Jakarta. The plant has the capacity to process 500 tons of trash per day.

Eko said the city administration had provided 6 hectares of land at each of the sites in Duri Kosambi and Pulo Gebang, while a private company was in the process of acquiring 18 hectares of land in Marunda.

Eko was unable to recall the name of the private company acquiring the land.

"Around Rp 150 million (US$11,111) of investment will be needed to build a plant (using) simple composting technology for 1,000 tons of garbage a day," he said.

He invited the private sector to invest in the plants in Duri Kosambi and in Pulo Gebang.

"So far there have been five private companies interested in the projects," Eko said.

Eko said the administration would be careful in choosing investors for the plants after poor performance by PT Patriot Bekasi Bangkit, the company which has managed the preliminary dump in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi since 2004.

The administration is carrying out a tender to replace the company, whose contract ended last month. The company is still managing the site pending the appointment of a new operator.

Eko also said the city administration would encourage PT Wira Golfindo Sarana, which owns and runs the recycling plant in Cakung-Cilincing, to increase its capacity to 1,500 tons a day by the end of this year.

The city administration pays Rp 60,000 for each ton of garbage processed at the plant.

The plant uses new technology to process garbage into fertilizer and fuel, leaving zero excess waste at the end of the process.

Jakarta produces nearly 7,000 tons of garbage each day. More than 118 hectares of city land is occupied by garbage, but most waste is transported outside the city to Bantar Gebang.

Eko said that the administration was trying to improve the Bantar Gebang dump into a regionally integrated trash processing site.

He said he had also talked to Banten administration officials about building a similar plant in Nameng, Banten.

"The Banten administration has provided about 100 hectares of the 200 hectares of land needed for an integrated processing plant in Nameng," Eko said.

Sutiyoso calls for big stick in waste management

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration has asked the House of Representatives to include law enforcement in the waste management bill currently under deliberation, in order to lure investors interested in developing high-tech waste treatment plants.

The request was made by Governor Sutiyoso in a Thursday meeting with the House's special committee on the waste bill.

In the meeting, Sutiyoso referred to a 2005 incident in Bojong village, West Java where hundreds of residents forced the closure of an incinerator plant before it began operation.

"Let's learn from the Bojong incident. Poor law enforcement made investors halt their plans for a high-tech waste plant for Jakarta," he said.

The Bojong plant, built in 2003 by private operator PT Wira Guna Sejahtera, aimed to incinerate one-third of Jakarta's 6,000 tons of daily waste.

Sutiyoso said the Bojong plant was intended as a pilot project for eco-friendly waste management in Greater Jakarta, which was also aimed at benefiting local economies.

"I was very disappointed with the incident mainly because it was provoked by environmental activists, none of whom were brought to court," he said.

Sutiyoso said that before the incident, his office had signed a memorandum of understanding with four investors, including one from Canada, who were interested in exporting compost made from Jakarta's waste.

"But the four went soon after the incident. We now must struggle hard to ensure investors they are safe. It was also bad dream for other provinces," he said.

Jakarta currently disposes its 6,000 tons garbage in landfill in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, West Java.

Sutiyoso said his administration would gradually reduce the amount of waste being dumped in Bantar Gebang.

"We're operating an eco-friendly plant in Cilincing, East Jakarta that can manage 500 tons a day. We hope to boost the capacity to 1,500 tons."

Sutiyoso also urged the House to review the 2005 presidential decree on project development, which requires all infrastructure development to be tendered through open auctions.

"This will also hamper investors in the waste sector because each operators uses different technology," he said.

Thursday's meeting was also attended by officials from West Java and Aceh provinces.

The first-ever waste management bill is expected to be passed into law this year. The bill is aimed at solving a string of waste management problems that have killed dozens of people across the country.

Waste, largely due to massive amounts of household garbage, has been one of the most sensitive issues in the country's urban areas.

The draft of the waste management bill requires residents to limit, reduce and manage their garbage and prohibits people from dumping garbage anywhere they like.

The law stipulates that organic garbage should be sorted from non-organic garbage at its source.

The committee also spoke to environmental activists last week, including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).

Walhi, which is focusing its campaign efforts on the waste problem this year, urged the House's committee to compel producers to use recyclable packaging for their goods.

The group also opposed the use of incinerators to treat waste, saying they would further harm environment and public health.

Jakarta beats neighbors at cleanliness awards

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It may be a shock to some readers, but Jakarta's five municipalities have won the Adipura award, the country's only environmental prize for the cleanest and greenest cities Wednesday.

But the dirtiest cities in the annual competition, which was organized by the State Ministry for the Environment, were Jakarta's neighbors -- Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

The capital's main thoroughfare, Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, won the urban facility category, judged to be the best street in the country.

In addition, the Jakarta administration received an award out of all the provinces for the best written annual report on the environment.

However, the capital failed to receive the Adiwiyata award for clean schools, which was awarded to a state elementary school in Sukabumi, West Java.

The trophy for Adipura winners was handed over by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday, while the winners of Adiwiyata award and the environmental report award were announced by environment minister Rachmat Witoelar at the Hotel Sahid.

Rachmat said Jakarta's success could set a good example for the environmental efforts of the city's neighbors.

"Neighboring cities need to learn about how Jakarta treats its environment," he said.

Jakarta has long accused neighboring cities of damaging its environment. This is despite the fact that Jakarta dumps more than 6,000 tons of garbage in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi, every day.

Rachmat said the scoring system for the Adipura awards had been tightened after more administrations joined the program.

"There are now 362 cities ... joining this year's Adipura awards, compared to only 59 cities in 2002," he said.

The award looks at factors such as waste management and green areas to determine the winners.

The Adipura award requires administrations to promote composting efforts in areas such as schools, traditional markets, hotels, terminals and restaurants.

Mohammad Helmy, one of the Adipura judges and the ministry's deputy assistant for small scale enterprises and domestic waste pollution control, said Jakarta had done the best job of treating the organic waste.

"We've also seen the Jakarta administration's seriousness about increasing green and open spaces, for example by converting Menteng park into some of the city's green space," he said.

The city currently has only 5,911 hectares of green space, around 9 percent of the capital's total land area. This is far less than 30 percent stipulated by the Spatial Planning Law.

The administration is aiming for 9,156 hectares, or around 13.94 percent of Jakarta's area, as green space by 2010.

Governor Sutiyoso handed the Adipura awards to each of Jakarta's mayors before launching a victory parade through the capital.

"This is a great achievement and I am thankful to all the mayors who succeeding in leading their people to a live a clean life," said Sutiyoso said.

Jakarta's municipalities, with the exception of East Jakarta, also received the award last year.

"This is a precious gift, but I am not satisfied until all the rivers flowing through Jakarta are clean," said Sutiyoso, whose term will end in October.

"We have to maintain our cleanliness so the awards won't go to other cities."

Green group trashes incinerator plan

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post): The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has criticized the planned construction of waste incinerators in the capital.

Executive director of Walhi's Jakarta chapter, Slamet Daroyni, said Tuesday the incinerators would pose a risk to the environment and public health.

"The incinerators are not eco-friendly," he said.

The administration is studying the possibility of building incinerators in each of Jakarta's five municipalities.

If built, the incinerators would be able to handle up to 4,000 of the nearly 6,000 tons of household waste produced in the city each day.

Currently, all this trash is dumped in a Bekasi landfill.

The administration earlier attempted to build an incinerator in Bojong, Bogor, but protests by nearby residents forced the abandonment of the project.

Walhi also called on the House of Representatives to pass into law a waste management bill to resolve long-standing garbage problems in the country.

Megacity leaders must see more green: Experts

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Enormous strains on the environment, caused by huge increases in the city's population, will be the foremost challenge for decision makers in a future megacity, experts said Thursday.

Economist Howard Dick from the University of Melbourne said that the more populated Jakarta of the future would consume more productive land and energy and worsen traffic congestion and public health.

"We must make sure the environment has been taken into account from the very beginning because heavy environmental footprints cause bottlenecks," Dick said.

Dick was a speaker at a Thursday seminar on Leadership in Megacities organized by The Jakarta Post.

Also speaking in the seminar was Zao Muyao, deputy chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress.

Zao said his administration had made public transport issues its main priority in order to better control long-standing traffic problems and ward off the risk of large-scale congestion.

"We keenly feel that, due to structural problems, optimizing traffic structure and increasing the appeal of mass transit will be the most effective way of dealing with the root causes of (congestion)," he said.

Transportation is considered to be the main contributor to air pollution worldwide.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates air pollution kills around 130,000 urbanites a year in developing nations.

Zao said the Shanghai administration planned to build a conservation-oriented and eco-friendly city to help conserve energy and protect the environment.

"In this way, resources will no longer be a bottleneck for development, pollution will be eliminated and a scientific and harmonious development path will then unfold," he said.

The Shanghai administration has issued a three year plan of action for environmental protection.

The initiative has been aimed at protecting aquatic environments, air quality, the reuse of after-treatment solid waste and the treatment of industrial and agricultural pollution.

"(The plan) must help improve urban management and the living standards of citizens," he said.

Plans are underway to form Jakarta and its neighboring cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi, Puncak and Cianjur into a megacity collectively dubbed Jabodetabekpunjur.

The planned conurbation will consist of 9,624 square kilometers of land with a total population of over 23 million.

The concept was refloated by Governor Sutiyoso last year as part of efforts to resolve environmental problems such as air pollution and the capital's water crisis.

A megacity is generally considered to be an urban area with a population of over 10 million people

'Magical' waste bin takes three students to Sweden

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A "magical waste bin" designed to compress organic waste has seen three Indonesian students named as finalists in an international inventors competition in Goteborg, Sweden.

The young team from Indonesia is made up of Agnes Santoso, 21, Vania Santoso, 15, and Wening Pranayadipta, 15. The team is one of 15 invited to present their work in Sweden on May 31.

Agnes said their waste bin idea was supposed to be user- and environmentally friendly.

The invention was called the magic waste bin because with it they could produce fertilizer from organic waste in a magically easy way, she said.

"We wanted it to be easy to use," Agnes said.

"The bin doesn't have to be expensive, but it has to be perforated to allow oxygen in," the law student from Airlangga University in Surabaya told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Vania Santoso said it was easy to create a magic bin.

The first step is to perforate the bin, she said.

"Then you find two burlap (natural fiber/Hessian) bags, one to be placed in the bottom of the bin, while the second is used to cover the top of the organic waste put into the bin.

"The bags are meant to hold in the moisture.

"The bin should have a lid of some kind," she said, explaining a cardboard box would do.

"We cut the organic waste into small pieces for placement in the bin.

"Then we stir the waste, which should be kept at about 60 Celsius degrees, every day.

"After two months, we remove the resulting fertilizers and sieve and aerate it.

"Then it is ready to use," said Vania, who is in the ninth grade at Petra Lima Junior High School of Surabaya.

Wening Pranayadipta -- or Dipta, said their community welcomed their cleanliness projects.

Besides the waste bin project, the team also recycles inorganic waste into bags, souvenirs and toys.

The Surabaya municipality administration has given its support to the project by donating choppers and other equipment.

"The projects have decreased the amount of waste in Surabaya by one third, or 88,600 cubic meters per month," said Dipta, a ninth grader of Ciputra Junior High School in Surabaya.

She said people in one sub-district could get two tons of compost per month from 1,218 cubic meters of waste using the magic bin.

In another sub-district, people were able to make as much as Rp 8 million (US$ 889) per month from recycling inorganic waste into souvenirs, while reducing the 1.1 tons of waste usually produced in the area by 80 percent.

Serang dump a new site for Jakarta garbage

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Banten

Serang regency in Banten, about two hours east of the capital, is planning to build a new garbage dump in Bojong Menteng, Tanjung Teja district.

Deputy regent Andy Sujadi said Tuesday the dump was designed to accommodate more than 6,000 tons of Jakarta's waste per day.

"We're opening our door to Jakarta's garbage... as long as there's compensation to the region from the Jakarta administration."

Andy explained that the 119.5 hectare dump site will apply a sanitary landfill system that will separate organic and non-organic waste.

The dump, which will be located next to the railway connecting Merak and Jakarta, will produce fertilizer and other products. The processing will be handled by local residents.

"We certainly hope the final dump site will open job opportunities. (We also hope) the application of the sanitary landfill system will be able to minimize environment impacts," Andy said.

Ubaidillah Kabier, the chairman of Commission B at the regency's legislative council, which handles environmental issues, said the council had no objections to the administration's plan to accommodate Jakarta's garbage.

"But there should be an agreement made with the community living in near the dump and a fee (should be paid by Jakarta) to cover the operational costs of the dump," he added.

Ubaidillah said the regency administration need to settle emerging problems with land acquisition soon.

"If these problems are ignored, they will hamper the construction project itself. The administration must also soon disseminate information on the construction of the dump to the community."

A number of residents living near Bojong Menteng have rejected the administration's plan to build the dump.

"It would affect our health," said Marhin Sofawi, a neighborhood unit chief at Bojong Menteng village.

"Many residents intend to move, but they want the administration to find them new houses."

The regency administration has allocated Rp 3 billion from this year's budget to release 30 hectares of land occupied by residents, while the physical construction of the dump, costing around Rp 100 billion, is being financed by the World Bank.