Freshly Cleaned, Rubbish Piles Up Again at Angke Flats
JAKARTA — Piles of rubbish have reappeared in the central area of the Angke Flats in Tambora, West Jakarta, persisting until Monday afternoon (6/4/2026).
Based on observations at the site, rubbish is accumulating at several points within the flats’ area. The waste, mostly wrapped in colourful plastic bags, is scattered in the temporary holding area in the residential alley.
The head of the Tambora District Environmental Services Unit (Satpel LH), Harun, confirmed that the area had actually been cleaned from Friday through the weekend. However, the piles have re-emerged due to the high volume of disposals.
Harun explained that the official rubbish collection point at the Angke Flats is only at the front of the complex. Meanwhile, the other points in the middle of the residential area are not designated disposal locations.
“But there are still residents who dump rubbish there because it’s not guarded by the managers there (at the flats), even though it’s not actually a rubbish spot; it should be at the front because if it’s at the back, it’s difficult for trucks to collect it,” Harun said.
He stated that rubbish handling in the Tambora area is carried out daily in two service shifts, morning and evening. For the Angke Flats area, collection usually starts from 05.00 WIB.
However, the mobility of collection has recently been disrupted due to quota restrictions on disposals to the Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST) Bantargebang after a landslide occurred. This condition has prevented some fleets from operating optimally.
“Since the Bantargebang landslide until now, the quota for the Tambora Satpel LH is only 21 trucks that can dispose there. Whereas we have a total of 35 vehicles. So 14 trucks automatically don’t get the quota,” Harun said.
According to him, this situation is triggered by differences in management between the Rusunawa, managed by the Flats Management Unit (UPRS), and the Rusunami, under the local RW.
As a result, each area creates its own disposal points, even though rubbish should be centralised at the front gate area of the flats for easy access by collection trucks.
“This is each location’s ego. The Rusunawa is directly under UPRS, while the Rusunami RW says, ‘oh this is my area, put it here’. So in that area, there are four disposal points up to the far back,” Harun explained.
This condition hampers officers because large trucks cannot enter the narrow alleys in the residential area. The Environment Agency had previously gathered the UPRS managers and local RW to unify the disposal points at the front area.
However, some residents still dump rubbish in the central residential area, and it is suspected that it also comes from non-flat residents who take advantage of the small road access.
“Yesterday, it was said that those who are not flat residents, from RW 3, also dump there because there is a small road access. The point is, don’t have location egos. If it’s one point at the front, our trucks can manoeuvre easily, rather than forcing to reach inside,” he complained.