Lack Of Socialization, Residents Reject The Existence Of Electric-Based Waste Processing In Bekasi

Illustration of garbage collections in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi City (ANTARA)

BEKASI City Residents of Ciketing Udik Village, Bantargebang District, Bekasi City reject the existence of Waste Processing Into Electric Energy (PSEL) which will be built by investors from China who are partners in waste processing in Bekasi City.

Head of RW 04 Ciketing Udik, Sarin Sunardi, said that until now there has been no socialization by the Bekasi city government or private investors and companies regarding the PSEL development plan in his environment.

Sarin added that residents here are aware of the PSEL development plan from the news that has recently appeared in the media. Residents objected to the residential area being a waste processing place. Residents around the location and land owners feel like they have been cheated because the information previously submitted is not for waste processing," said Sarin in his statement, Saturday, October 7.

Around 20 land certificate owners in the RW 04 area who will be used as project locations thought the land would be used as a location for the construction of folders or water reservoirs and sports recreation. So they want to hand over their original land certificates to intermediaries. A total of 12 out of about 20 land certificate owners are residents of the Ciketing Udik area, the rest are residents outside the area, with a total land area of about 5 hectares.

When socializing the plan to build water folders and green recreation areas, residents were persuaded that they needed to support government and BUMD programs. Even though the land is intended for private companies or investors from China, waste processing partners.

"Residents want to work together, because the land was bought by the Bekasi city government or BUMD," said Sarin again.

According to Sarin, each certificate owner has been given a waiting fee of Rp. 30 million per plot of land/certificate. Instead, the land owner submits the original certificate to the intermediary. They were promised that if the project was not completed, the certificate would be returned, and the waiting money would be burned," said Sarin.

Each owner of the land has tied the sale and purchase agreement of IDR 1.5 million per square meter (m2), but residents are only received IDR 1.1 million per M2.

"The remaining Rp 400,000 per M2, he said, is for land administration costs and for local government officials, as residents report to me," added Sarin.

The green open area in Ciketing Udik is located about 1 kilometer from the entrance to the Sumurbatu TPA area, Bantargebang. Currently, the area is a residential area and includes a green zone, not a zone for industrial activities, let alone landfills.

"We object to our place being used as a TPA, because it will cause pollution, noise, and others," said Sarin.

In the Sumurbatu area, said Sarin, there is actually still land that can be used as a TPA as well as a location for PSEL, which is still in accordance with its designation. Why does the location of the PSEL take place in our area, and the information submitted to residents is not for the construction of water folders, it turns out that for PSEL,' explained Sarin. Based on the minutes of the evaluation of PSEL's technical prerequisites in Bekasi City, number 42.EV.HPT/PP/PLTSA.LH/2023, this auction was won by a consortium from China EEI-MHE-HDI-XHE. Meanwhile, the local consortium CMC-ASG-SUS did not pass.

The two tender participants entered the technical offer document on September 6, 2023 and the announcement of the auction was delivered on September 19, 2023.

The announcement was made on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, or the day before the Bekasi Mayor Tri's term ends on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Another oddity, at the time of the tender, the winner did not have the right field of business or KBLI, so he should have automatically died.

The construction of waste processing installations into electrical energy in Bekasi City is stated in Presidential Decree number 35 of 2018 concerning the acceleration of the construction of waste processing installations into electrical energy based on environmentally friendly technology. Bekasi City is one of the areas appointed to accelerate as stated in this Presidential Regulation.