Questioned By Residents, DKI Provincial Government Claims RDF Rorotan Has Complete Amdal

Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) Plant Rorotan facility located in Jakarta. (doc the Jakarta Provincial Government)

JAKARTA - Head of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH) Asep Kuswanto claims Rorotan's Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) facility has complete environmental impact analysis documents (amdal).

This is in response to the concerns of Jakarta Garden City (JGC) residents, Cakung, who suspect that the operation of RDF is not accompanied by amdal and attribute it to the health problems experienced by children in the area.

"Amdal already exists, complete. It is impossible for us to build a building with no Amdal," Asep said when confirmed, Thursday, November 6.

Asep admitted that Rorotan's RDF amdal had indeed been revised due to the addition of new equipment to the processing system. The revision was completed before RDF began the commissioning stage trial process.

"Indeed, there is an addition from the equipment, so there is a revision of the amdal. That has been completed because there was an addition yesterday, so we make sure that the amdal has been completed in a revised document," he said.

According to Asep, since the trial period or commissioning in early October to last week, the Rorotan RDF has not caused any significant complaints from the public. The reported smell of garbage only appeared on Thursday last week.

Responding to residents' complaints about the pungent smell that allegedly came from RDF, Asep said it could be caused by the condition of too wet garbage due to heavy rains some time ago. He said DLH was still conducting an evaluation in the field to ensure the main source of the odor was complained about.

"Yes, indeed, when we sent the garbage, it was garbage that was indeed hit by heavy rain a few days ago, causing the garbage to become very wet," Asep said.

"We are also evaluating whether there are other sources of appeal. Because how come the community is so massive, even though there are some people who have also visited RDF Rorotan last week and there are no things that cause unrest," he continued.

Asep also considered that it was necessary to be careful in relating the smell of RDF to the health problems of JGC residents. He assessed that the current weather conditions in the transition period could contribute to an increase in cases of cough, runny nose, and ARI.

"Maybe we both know that the current condition is a transitional condition. So making sure that it is the result of the impact of the cough and runny nose from RDF Rorotan, yes, we also can't confirm that," he said.

Since last week, the RDF Rorotan trial has been temporarily suspended according to the direction of the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Pramono Anung. The cessation was carried out to ensure the technical readiness of garbage transport vehicles, especially so that they no longer cause water spills during the distribution process.

"For the trial, yesterday, Mr. Governor of Statement, the trial was stopped first while waiting for the readiness of the compact truck to be able to compare properly and not cause water spills," explained Asep.

DLH is now improving the transportation vehicle mobilization system and adding a new fleet. This year, the DKI Provincial Government will hold 51 additional compact units that will be used specifically to serve the Rorotan RDF.

Asep hopes that the trial will not last long. He assessed that RDF Rorotan played an important role in reducing the volume of waste shipments to the Bantargebang Final Processing Site (TPA).

"The function of the Rorotan RDF will be very helpful for the processing of Jakarta waste. So far, Jakarta residents only rely on the Bantargebang TPA, and with the Rorotan RDF it is very helpful so that the delivery of garbage is no longer as much as it is today," he added.

Previously, a resident of Jakarta Garden City (JGC), East Cakung, East Jakarta revealed that as many as 23 children in his area experienced illness during the Kommissioning RDF Rorotan process.

The head of RT 018 RW 014 JGC, Wahyu Andre, asked the DKI Provincial Government to open an analysis of the environmental impact (amdal) of the Rorotan RDF project. Residents, said Wahyu, do not want to be victims if the project does not have security and environmental health guarantees.

"I have asked verbally in several meetings with RDF, it is always answered that it is still a process. I also ask officially through the PPID of the DKI LH Service since early August, but until now there has been no good faith to provide information on environmental amdals and traffic amdals," he said.