Pramono Responds to Environment Minister Over Bantargebang Landslide
Jakarta — Four people were reported dead after being buried by a garbage landslide at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Management Facility (TPST) in Bekasi City on Sunday, 8 March 2026. The incident is being viewed as a failure of the Jakarta Provincial Government in waste management.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq stated that the incident represents evidence of systemic waste management failure in Jakarta. He argued that the case should serve as a stark warning to the Jakarta Provincial Government to immediately cease waste management using open dumping methods, which threaten the lives of residents and workers.
“This incident need not have occurred if waste management had been conducted in accordance with regulations. TPST Bantargebang should serve as a lesson for us all to immediately reform our practices, for the sake of human life and environmental conservation,” he said in a statement on Monday, 9 March 2026.
He characterised the waste landslide at TPST Bantargebang as the tip of the iceberg in Jakarta’s waste management failure, with the facility now bearing a critical burden of 80 million tonnes of waste accumulated over 37 years. The use of open dumping methods at the site is considered to violate Law Number 18 of 2008, as the existing system is no longer capable of mitigating safety risks to residents.
This situation is said to contradict the regulatory provisions, not only threatening human life due to the potential for further landslides but also serving as a source of massive environmental contamination.
Hanif explained that the Bantargebang landslide was not the first of its kind. The incident has occurred repeatedly over many years, such as residential landslides in 2003 and the collapse of Zone 3 in 2006, which claimed lives and buried dozens of waste pickers.
Hanif stressed that those responsible would face strict penalties under Law Number 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management. Criminal penalties range from 5 to 10 years imprisonment and fines of 5 to 10 billion rupiah for those whose negligence causes death.
Meanwhile, Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung expressed gratitude to the Environment Minister for paying attention to the case at TPST Bantargebang. The minister even made a direct site inspection.
“On this occasion, I would also like to express my gratitude to the Environment Minister for checking the site directly last night,” he said at Jakarta City Hall on Monday.
He stated that the Jakarta Provincial Government had conducted special deliberations regarding handling at TPST Bantargebang. Moreover, the incident was entirely unforeseen.
“Because this is certainly something that was not planned, not anticipated, resulting from heavy and prolonged rainfall, and the pile that was already high, causing a slide or landslide, resulting in the deaths of four people,” he said.