Extreme Weather Risk: BNPB Warns of Secondary Landslide Danger at Bantargebang
The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has issued a serious warning regarding the potential for secondary landslides at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Processing Facility (TPST) in Bekasi City. The warning follows extreme weather forecasts from Indonesia’s meteorological agency (BMKG) indicating heavy rainfall across the Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi region over the next two days, which could further destabilise the currently unstable waste pile.
Abdul Muhari, Head of the BNPB’s Centre for Disaster Data, Information and Communication, emphasised that field teams have been instructed to implement stringent safety protocols to prevent additional casualties during the ongoing evacuation operation.
The waste pile landslide occurred in Zone 4 of TPST Bantargebang on Sunday 8 March at approximately 14:30 local time. The collapse resulted in fatalities and buried multiple waste transport trucks and roadside structures in the surrounding area.
A combined team from Bekasi City Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), Bekasi SAR Alert Unit and Jakarta Provincial BPBD were immediately deployed for evacuation and damage assessment. Desiana Kartika Bahari, Head of Jakarta’s SAR Office, reported that day-two search operations involved at least 336 combined rescue personnel. Current search efforts focus on locations identified by eyewitnesses as probable burial sites.
“Teams are opening access routes to the landslide zone using heavy equipment such as excavators and deploying search dogs (K9) to detect any buried victims,” Desiana stated in Jakarta on Monday 9 March.
The BNPB and national search and rescue agency (Basarnas) have urged residents and workers at TPST Bantargebang to remain vigilant given continued extreme weather forecasts for the coming days.
The tragedy, which claimed four worker lives, has sparked urgent calls from Jakarta regional legislators for comprehensive waste management reform. Jakarta Commission B member Francine Widjojo has urged the provincial government to implement breakthrough solutions in the capital’s waste management system. The Ministry of Environment announced a full investigation and enforcement action, whilst the Environment Ministry confirmed comprehensive investigation and legal enforcement proceedings. West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi offered condolences and called for heightened caution against such unforeseen disasters.
In response, Jakarta Provincial Government has begun phased operations of the Rorotan Refuse Derived Fuel facility and halted one open dumping area per Environment Ministry directives, with Governor Pramono Anung pledging adherence to ministerial guidance on waste management system restructuring.