The government of Jakarta is considering building a new island to manage all waste and rubbish in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area and its surrounding areas.
Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta, Heru Budi Hartono, made his remark about the need for a long-term solution regarding waste management in Jakarta. Hartono proposed a plan to build a new island that could function as a dumping site as well as a waste management facility.
According to Hartono, there is no longer any available lot that can be used as a future waste dump in Jakarta.
“In the next 10 years, the people of Jakarta as well as the city’s surrounding areas will no longer be able to dispose of their waste at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST),” Hartono remarked.
The government of Jakarta is considering having the proposed island built in the coastal area north of Jakarta; the foundation of the island is likely to utilise sediment or mud retrieved from the bottom of the 13 rivers that are located in the Jakarta area.
“Once the location of the island is decided, we will reclaim [the land] using sediments and all kinds of rubbish,” said Hartono to the press at the DKI City Hall on Wednesday, the 15th of May.
The idea to build an island solely for the purpose of waste management is nothing new as ‘pilot’ countries such as Singapore, the Maldives, and Japan have built an island specifically designated for waste management and processing. The government of Jakarta also envisioned that the waste from several populated areas within the Greater Jakarta Area such as the Special Region of Jakarta, Bekasi City and Regency, Bogor City and Regency, Tangerang City and Regency, South Tangerang, Depok, and Cianjur Regency can be disposed of on that island as well.
“It is impossible for Jakarta to continue dumping rubbish in Bantargebang, and it is [also] impossible for Jakarta to build an Intermediate Treatment Facility and Refuse Derived Fuel on land,” Hartono continued.
Hartono acknowledged that the proposal to build a waste island could not be handled and executed by the government of Jakarta alone. He later teased that he would submit such a proposal to the central government for more in-depth study.
“We can’t build this [waste island] alone. We have to work together with the central government. In the future, in my opinion, this is for the sake of not only Jakarta, but also Bekasi, Depok, and South Tangerang,” Hartono concluded.