Permanent Closure of Rubbish Emplacement at Tanah Kusir Cemetery

The Jakarta Environmental Agency has issued an apology for the rubbish dumping activities carried out by its mini dump trucks in the Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery area, South Jakarta. The activity previously went viral on social media and drew significant criticism from the public.

Jakarta DLH Head Asep Kuswanto stated that the rubbish storage or emplacement site in the riverbank area has now been permanently closed. According to him, this closure serves as a form of evaluation to improve waste management governance, particularly for waste originating from water bodies.

“Therefore, starting today, we are closing the emplacement at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery. Next, we will carry out improvements and ensure that emplacements along riverbanks are organised and closed gradually,” said Asep in a written statement on Friday, 27 March 2026.

With the closure of the emplacement in the Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery area, DLH Jakarta will redirect waste management to the TB Simatupang waste screening facility. This location is said to have a more optimal management system.

Asep also guaranteed that there would be no disruptions in water body waste handling services, despite the longer transit distance for waste management. “We are committed to preserving the environment, including ensuring that waste lifted from rivers does not return to water bodies. The river barrier system will continue to be optimised to hold waste before it is transported to land,” he said.

Asep added that DLH Jakarta also plans to reorganise the emplacement by adding boundary fences in the closed area to prevent waste from re-entering water bodies. This includes using containers as storage bins to minimise environmental impacts.

Previously, the Head of the Water Body Waste Handling Unit of DLH DKI Jakarta, Dadang Cahya Rusdiana, clarified that there was no waste dumping into the Pesanggrahan River in the Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery area, South Jakarta. This statement was made after a post on Threads circulated accusing waste dumping into the river at the location.

According to Dadang, the dump pickup vehicles seen in the post were part of waste transportation operations. He stated that the location was a temporary storage point or emplacement owned by DLH in the Special Block of Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery.

“There is no waste dumping into water bodies. The visible activity is an official temporary storage process, and all operations at the location are well-controlled,” said Dadang in a written statement, quoted on Friday, 27 March 2026.

The location, he said, is a transit point for waste from river and reservoir cleanups in the Pesanggrahan and Kebayoran Baru sub-districts. The waste is then transferred using small trucks to the Perintis emplacement for further sorting before being transported to the Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST) Bantargebang. “It is a transit point for water body cleanup results, not a dumping site,” he stated.

Dadang said the impression of dumping into the river arose due to the angle of the photo taken parallel to the road. “In fact, the activity is at a legitimate storage point, and there is no dumping into water bodies,” he added.

Dadang further explained that the narrow road conditions in the cemetery area prevent large containers from being placed there. Therefore, waste is temporarily placed in the area below the riverbank before being transported using appropriate vehicles.

“We ensure no waste enters water bodies. The site also collects tree trimming residues from Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery by the Forestry and Parks Office. The location is equipped with HDPE floating cube barriers, and all management processes are carried out according to standard operating procedures,” he said.