Dear mbok Vieb, mas Anton, Bayu,
Maaf mbok vieb, aku belum sempat balas email mbok Vieb yang kemarin.
Saya forwardkan petisi yang kami buat dibantu temen2 GAIA dan IPEN.
Salam,
yuyun
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: 14 Agustus 2008 17:08
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [GAIA] Indonesian Anti-Incinerator Struggle Gathers Worldwide
Support
Dear GAIA and IPEN Friends. We are pleased to share the following letter
- signed here in Trivandrum, India - that urges the Government of
Indonesia to reconsider plans to build waste incinerators all over the
country. Over 45 people from 40 countries signed the letter addressed to
Minister Witoelar and to the members of the Parliament. We thank the IPEN
General Assembly participants for their solidarity and support. Terima
kasih banyak-banyak (thank you very much). Manny C. Calonzo
PS: Many thanks to Yuyun (Balifokus), Ronnie (People's Alliance against
the PLTSa Incinerator), Joe Digangi (EHF) and Gigie (GAIA) for their big
help in crafting this letter.
August 15, 2008
Honorable Rahmat Witoelar
Minister of the Environment
Republic of Indonesia
Honorable Members of the Parliament
Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat
Republic of Indonesia
Dear Sirs/Madams,
CIVIL SOCIETY VIEWS OF INCINERATOR PROJECTS IN BANDUNG AND OTHER PARTS OF
INDONESIA
We, representatives of 45 non-government organizations (NGOs) and civil
society organizations (CSOs) from 40 countries that are working on
chemical safety issues and participating at the General Assembly of the
International POPs Elimination Network (www.ipen.org) from August 12 to
15, 2008 in the city of Trivandrum, India, respectfully request your
offices to critically look at the waste incinerators being proposed to be
built in the Republic of Indonesia.
Among the many incinerator proposals that have been brought to our
attention, we are most particularly concerned with the plan to construct
the Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Sampah (PLTSa), "waste to energy"
incinerator, for municipal solid waste in Bandung, West Java with a
capacity to burn 500 tons of garbage per day. The plant is to be sited
just 200 meters away from the closest settlement in Gedebage where some
25,000 citizens live. This raises serious concerns regarding the impact of
the proposed facility on community health, livelihood, and environment.
We concur with the Government of Indonesia that incinerators are top
sources of dioxin emissions in the country. The newly-launched "National
Implementation Plan on Elimination and Reduction of Persistent Organic
Pollutants in Indonesia" states:
"From the main category waste incineration, the highest release of UPOPs
(Unintentional POPs) in form of PCDDs/Fs was estimated came from municipal
waste incineration (62 g TEQ), followed by medical waste incineration (7 g
TEQ) and hazardous waste incineration (5 g TEQ). Shredder waste
incineration, sewage sludge incineration, and wood waste incineration were
not significant because these activities were not commonly practiced. The
highest release was in fly ash (58 g TEQ)."
The Stockholm Convention on POPs that the Republic of Indonesia is set to
ratify requires that each Party "shall, at a minimum reduce the total
releases derived from anthropogenic sources of each of the chemicals. with
the goal of their continuing minimization and, where feasible, ultimate
elimination." The Convention furthers calls for the promotion and use of
"substitute or modified materials, products and processes to prevent the
formation and release of chemicals listed in Annex C," including dioxins
and other unintended byproduct POPs. This implies that other strategies to
handle waste may help better fulfill the Government's obligations under
the Convention. Parties to the Convention are further required to comply
with the Best Available Techniques/Best Environmental Practices (BAT/BEP)
requirements for new facilities falling under source categories of
unintentional byproduct POPs.
Financial institutions have also expressed concern over use of
incinerators for handling municipal waste. The Asian Development Bank that
says "incineration has had very limited use for municipal solid waste and
has not had much success in the cities of Asian developing countries where
it has been installed, because most of these cities have encountered many
problems with imported incinerators, either due to design problems or high
operating and maintenance costs." ("Asian Cities in the 21st Century:
Contemporary Approaches to Municipal Management", Vol. 4, Partnerships for
Better Municipal Management, Asian Development Bank, 2000)
Civil society groups have also analyzed options for municipal waste
management as part of the UN-assisted International POPs Elimination
Project (IPEP). A "Policy Brief on Zero Waste" published in 2006 by
BaliFokus (Indonesia), Consumers' Association of Penang (Malaysia),
EcoWaste Coalition (Philippines) and Global Alliance for Incinerator
Alternatives (Philippines) notes that "waste incinerators present a long
list of problems and concerns for host communities and governments. The
most conspicuous of which are the contamination of bodies, food supply and
environment with POPs and other injurious substances, the production of
toxic ash, the destruction of resources that could have been reused or
recycled, the huge financial, economic and employment costs, waste of
energy, and incompatibility with sustainable approaches to managing
discards."
Additional sources of concern for NGOs and CSOs over waste incinerators in
developing countries include:
- potential dioxins formation and release when low calorific values
mixed wastes are burned
- lack of robustness of technology to function well in a southern
environment
- lack of ability to regularly monitor stack emissions or ash toxicity
- lack of technical ability to conduct tests for dioxins and other
toxics releases
- lack of secure landfills for the highly hazardous ash
- lack of trained personnel with required skills for effective
monitoring
- budget uncertainties
- differing physical conditions and waste streams
- threat of corruption
Considering the precautionary principle and the multi-faceted problems
associated with mass burn, "waste to energy," gasification, pyrolysis,
plasma arc and other types of incinerators, including those seeking
funding through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other carbon
trading schemes such as the SARBAGITA integrated waste management facility
in Bali, we urge the Government of Indonesia to invest in ecological
solutions to the country's waste and energy problems such as Zero Waste
that combine waste avoidance, reduction, recycling, composting and other
innovative practices to cut both the volume and toxicity of the trash
being disposed.
These strategies would also be consistent with implementation of the
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) which
Indonesia and over 100 governments adopted in 2006 in Dubai. The SAICM
Global Plan of Action includes implementation of capacity-building
programs on waste minimization and increased resource efficiency, as well
as Zero Waste resource management, waste prevention, substitution and
toxic use reduction.
We stand in solidarity with the people of Gedebage in objecting to the
PLTSa and urge the authorities, particularly the Mayor of Bandung City, to
withdraw their support for the incinerator project in favor of the more
important right of the people to chemical safety and environmental health.
Sincerely yours,
Signed in Trivandrum, Kerala, India by over 45 groups from 40 countries
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