Annual Flooding at Semper Public Cemetery, Management Requests Drainage Repairs and Land Elevation

Flooding that submerges the Semper Public Cemetery in North Jakarta has not been fully resolved. The management hopes for improvements to the water channels and land filling to address the flooding in the cemetery area. The head of the Semper Public Cemetery Implementation Unit, Sukino, stated that they have been carrying out temporary handling efforts by pumping out water using pumps. “We, as the implementers, carry out pumping with water tankers, sometimes coordinating with the Water Resources Agency to assist with the pumping,” Sukino told Kompas.com on Thursday (26/3/2026). In addition, land filling is considered necessary because the cemetery area is lower than the surrounding roads. “If there is land available, the hope is to carry it out immediately so that all water pooling problems are resolved at Semper Public Cemetery,” he said. Plans for land filling were actually socialised in 2023, but have not yet been realised to date. Sukino already has a list of points that most need filling, including Islamic Units 41–44, 46–51, 53–54, 56–57, and 59–60. “The channels are also not optimal,” he said. The flooding problem at Semper Public Cemetery in Cilincing, North Jakarta, has not been resolved from year to year. Recent extreme weather has made the situation even more concerning. The causes are varied, from poor drainage, its location in low-lying land that serves as overflow space for water, to extreme weather factors. Observations at the site show that much of the land around the cemetery is used for container depots or garages.