Dukuh Sub-district in East Jakarta Tightens Monitoring of Illegal Dumpsites After Fire

The Dukuh Sub-district in East Jakarta, together with the administrators of RT 013 and RW 03, is tightening supervision of an illegal temporary waste disposal site on a vacant plot of land on Jalan Penggilingan Baru I, RW 03, following a recent fire.

RW 03 Chairman Irman Riady stated that to prevent a similar incident, future oversight will be conducted more strictly under the coordination of the sub-district head with field officers from the local RT and RW. The fire, which occurred on Sunday (2/8), was allegedly triggered by children playing with fire around the pile of rubbish.

Irman noted that the existence of the illegal waste processing activity was neither known about nor approved by local officials or the government. "We have prohibited this activity, both in writing and verbally. They bring in the rubbish secretly to the area around here," Irman said. He also specifically urged children not to play with fire, burn rubbish, set off firecrackers, or ignite other objects that could spark a fire around the location.

The fire at the waste site, covering an area of approximately 6,000 square metres, began on Saturday morning (1/8). The flames are suspected to have originated from children playing with fire in the rubbish heap area, and subsequently grew due to strong winds. The extinguishing process, involving Gulkarmat officers and the Dukuh Sub-district Public Infrastructure and Facilities Handling unit, faced technical difficulties on the ground. Surface debris concealed waste material in the lower layers, causing ground fires that continuously emitted thick smoke. By Sunday afternoon (2/8), joint officers were still cooling down and breaking apart the waste material to ensure all hotspots and smoke were completely extinguished. A firefighter from the East Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency, named Andriyono, was declared dead whilst battling the blaze on the vacant, rubbish-filled land. The victim suddenly experienced shortness of breath and collapsed on site after inhaling thick smoke that had accumulated in the firefighting area.