The smoke from a large fire at Bali’s Suwung dump gradually disappeared on Sunday and normal activities at the landfill have appeared to return to normal.
The dump caught fire on Sept. 24 in the wet waste area and the blaze quickly spread to cover an area of about nine hectares. Firefighters struggled to put out the burn, because of the large area and the depth of burning toxic gases located below the surface.
Denpasar City Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) director Ida Bagus Joni Arimbawa told Tribun Bali on Sunday night that the fire was very nearly extinguished in total.
“Today, about 95 percent has already been handled. The rest will now be handled by the TPA (landfill) itself, assisted by Waskita, who is doing the project there,” Joni said. Waskita is an Indonesian state-owned construction firm that is working on the revitalization of Suwung, a pilot project to completed by 2019 that would convert waste to energy.
The “handling process” will consist of a water tank truck sucking up the waste water around the location.
“Up through this afternoon, we have still been spraying. Around 95 percent finished. There are several spots to be handled by the TPA,” he said.
A hot spot has been identified in the middle of the area, which has proven difficult to put out says Joni.
“Around the middle, like a valley. It’s difficult to reach so we must use a small truck. Then it’s also sucked up from the bottom,” Joni explained.
There is apparently pressure on the landfill to get things sorted ahead of the fast-approaching IMF-World Bank annual meetings to kick off in Bali on Oct. 8—no one wants a big smoking trash fire fogging up the island when the world’s financial elite are in town.
“That’s why for next week, we are expected to be alert at the landfill site. The province is coordinating with Badung, Tabanan, Gianyar, and Denpasar to prepare the location,” Joni said.
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