Charged by Zulhas, Pramono ensures that the land for the waste-to-energy power plant for Jakarta is ready.

DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung/PHOTO: Diah Ayu-VOI

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung has ensured the readiness of land for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant (PLTSa) or a waste-to-energy (PSLE) project for Jakarta.

This was conveyed by Pramono in response to the acceleration request from the central government. Pramono admitted that he had communicated directly with Coordinating Minister for Food and Agriculture Zulkifli Hasan regarding this matter, including conveying the readiness of the required land.

"I just communicated directly with the Coordinating Minister for Food and he asked for land in Bantar Gebang that was prepared for the waste power plant. Actually we have sent a letter to the Coordinating Minister for Food," said Pramono at the DKI Jakarta City Hall, Tuesday, March 31.

He assessed that the condition of the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Plant (TPST) is currently very burdened because of the accumulation of waste that has continued to increase for years.

"I agree with the Coordinating Minister, Bantargebang has been too long, the burden is too heavy. There is already 55 million waste without intending to blame anyone, this is an event that has been happening over time," he said.

According to Pramono, the construction of PSEL is one solution to reduce the burden of waste in Jakarta, as well as following up on President Prabowo Subianto's instructions regarding the acceleration of waste processing into energy.

"The President's instructions for waste power plants, including in Bantargebang, we will immediately follow up and Jakarta for waste power plants will be three and we have sent a letter officially to the Coordinating Minister and also the relevant ministers," said Pramono.

As previously reported, the government has accelerated the construction of waste-to-energy (PSEL) projects in various areas. This step is said to be a response to the emergency condition of waste, especially in cities and regencies with a stockpile of more than 1,000 tons per day.

Coordinating Minister for Food and Agriculture Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) said this acceleration was a direct order from the President before leaving for abroad. PSEL is one of the solutions encouraged by the government to reduce the burden of landfills (TPA) which are increasingly critical. One of the highlights is the condition of the Bantargebang Landfill, Bekasi, which houses garbage from Jakarta.

"The construction of PSEL to solve the emergency of garbage, especially in cities, regencies with garbage piles above 1,000 tons. Bantargebang has also had victims. If we let it go, we are less civilized," he said.

In the latest coordination meeting, the government noted that there were 33 locations covering at least 61 regencies/cities that were included in the plan to accelerate the development of PSEL facilities.

Of these, four projects are said to have entered the tender stage and are ready to be built in the near future. The locations are in Denpasar Raya, Bekasi City, Bogor Raya, and Yogyakarta.

For the DKI Jakarta area, the central government is still waiting for the completion of land documents, including for projects in Bantar Gebang and Tanjung Kamal Muara.

"The governor just called me to ask for 1 day to hand over the land files. So DKI, Bantargebang, the letter is ready, but the land is not yet," said Zulhas.

Zulhas ensured that coordination with the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government continued to be carried out so that the construction process was not hampered by administrative issues.