Jakarta Provincial Government Targets Completion of Bantargebang Normalisation This Week Following Landslide
Jakarta’s Provincial Government is racing against time to restore waste management operations following a major landslide at the Bantargebang Sanitary Landfill (TPST). The Provincial Government targets full normalisation of the capital’s waste management system within one week.
Asep Kuswanto, Head of the Jakarta Provincial Environmental Affairs Department (DLH), stated that the current focus is on clearing landslide materials whilst reorganising the affected area in Zone 4A of Bantargebang, where the incident occurred.
“We are targeting waste management at the Bantargebang Sanitary Landfill to return to normal within a week. Currently, our field teams are handling landslide materials that are blocking the river flow near the incident site,” Asep said on Tuesday (10 March).
Landslide materials blocking the river are being relocated to storage areas in Zone 4 Small and Zone 4 Large. This measure is necessary to restore normal water flow and prevent overflow onto surrounding roads near the landfill.
The Environmental Affairs Department is also preparing riverbank repairs at two points affected by water overflow. This intervention is considered crucial to ensure infrastructure stability in the waste disposal area and prevent further incidents during the recovery process.
“From an operational standpoint, waste heap reorganisation activities are concentrated in Head Bird Zone (Zona 3 Kepala Burung) and Zone 4 Large to minimise the potential for secondary landslides,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jakarta’s waste disposal services continue to operate through three active zones—Zones 1, 2, and 5—with a capacity of approximately 4,000 tonnes per day. Once reorganisation of Zone 4 Large is completed, that area will return to operation with an additional capacity of approximately 1,500 tonnes of waste per day.
The Bantargebang landslide, which claimed four workers’ lives, has exposed serious systemic failures in waste management. Environmental groups including Walhi have characterised the incident as evidence of a critical waste management crisis. Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung expressed concern that workers were continuing operations during periods of high rainfall.
The incident has reignited scrutiny of Jakarta’s waste management practices and the effectiveness of substantial budget allocations in improving the Environmental Affairs Department’s operational performance, particularly in addressing the capital’s waste challenges.