Greater Bandung Regional Governments Urged to Crack Down on Illegal Waste Dumps
Regency and city governments across the Bandung Raya area have been urged to immediately bring order to the growing number of illegal waste transfer sites (TPS). Beyond ruining the aesthetics of the area, these sites are certain to produce foul odours that harm local communities.
The head of the West Java Provincial Environment Agency, Ai Saadiyah, has asked regency and city governments to move quickly to tackle illegal TPS. One site she highlighted is an illegal TPS on Jalan Raya Ciganitri in Bandung Regency.
She explained that regency and city governments should prioritise solving waste problems in their own areas independently. This is important given that the lifespan and capacity of the Sarimukti Final Processing Site (TPA) in West Bandung Regency will soon come to an end.
“We continue to encourage regencies and cities to follow up first. Do not always wait for the province to step in. If the province steps in, there must certainly be direction from the leadership, the Governor and the Regional Secretary,” Ai said when contacted.
She assessed that local governments have so far appeared dependent on the provincial government regarding waste issues. According to her, her office has repeatedly deployed to clear waste piles at various illegal points.
However, these efforts have not been followed by improvements in monitoring systems or any commitment to reform from local governments. “The province has helped a great deal so far — we have cleared waste everywhere, but there has been no improvement on their side,” she said.
Her office is also pushing for upstream waste management through massive public education. Every household, neighbourhood and community unit (RT/RW) administrators, and officials at the village level must sort and process waste independently, so that only residue is sent to the final disposal site.
“We ask regencies and cities to also think about this, because the capacity of the facility managed by the province is currently critical. We hope regencies and cities can follow up and urge the public not to dump waste in illegal places,” she said.