November 21, 2024
JAKARTA – Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has slammed the Yogyakarta city administration over its waste management, threatening to bring the matter to court if anyone is found guilty of negligence.
On Monday, the environment minister conducted an impromptu visit to Yogyakarta to inspect the city’s waste management system, with one of the visited sites being the Mandala Krida temporary disposal site (TPS).
Back in April, the Yogyakarta provincial administration permanently closed the Piyungan final disposal site (TPA), stating that the 2.5-hectare site was already at maximum capacity.
As a result, Yogyakarta city, Sleman regency and Bantul regency were told by the provincial administration to independently handle waste management in their respective administrative areas.
Minister Hanif said all Yogyakarta regional administrations must soon find a way out of the mounting waste problem, as waste must be handled starting at the source, otherwise it would only accumulate at disposal sites.
He said he would enlist an environmental monitoring team from the ministry to investigate the waste problem in Yogyakarta, and would enforce the law if any party was found negligent.
“I will not back down from enforcing the law. There must be someone held accountable so the people can get justice,” Hanif said on Monday, kompas.com reported.
In response to the minister’s visit, acting Yogyakarta city mayor Sugeng Purwanto said on Tuesday the city administration would install waste incinerators to help the city’s waste problem.
He also said a buildup of waste at TPS such as the one visited by the environment minister the previous day, was common as they were supposed to be a transit place for waste before being disposed of at their final sites.
Sugeng said the city currently managed four integrated waste disposal sites (TPST) across the city, and the city also cooperated with private waste management companies who dispose of around 40 tonnes of waste.
“We can say that the city administration has managed around 170 to 180 [tonnes of waste],” Sugeng said on Tuesday, kompas.com reported.
He said the administration would install two waste incinerators by December this year, which were expected to help ease the city’s waste management.
The environment minister’s impromptu visit to Yogyakarta, however, appears to have irked Yogyakarta Governor Hamengku Buwono, and he said he had summoned the acting Yogyakarta mayor for clarification regarding the city’s waste management.
“I am uncomfortable with the results of the impromptu visit,” the governor said on Tuesday, kompas.com reported.
He said that according to the acting mayor, the Mandala Krida site was usually empty in the morning but full by the afternoon, but by then the waste was usually sent elsewhere for proper disposal.
The governor said he had instructed the acting mayor to send a letter to the environment minister to properly explain the city’s waste management system to prevent further misunderstanding.