Pramono Reveals Culprit Behind Mountain of Rubbish in Kramat Jati Causing Wall Collapse
Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung has spoken out about the piles of rubbish that recently appeared at several points in Jakarta, including the Kramat Jati area in East Jakarta. He explained that the situation occurred due to a landslide in zone 4A of the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST) some time ago.
“As a result of the landslide at that time in zone 4A, we indeed needed 10 days to reorganise it,” Pramono said at Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday (31/3/2026).
Pramono stated that it was not only Kramat Jati that was affected. Several other areas in Jakarta also experienced rubbish accumulation because the disposal route was disrupted during the recovery process at Bantargebang.
“Some piles are not only in Kramat Jati; it happened in several places as well,” he clarified.
However, he assured that the situation has now been handled. Bantargebang is back to full operation, so the waste disposal flow has returned to normal.
“Now, almost all those piles have been cleaned up again because Bantargebang can be used again,” he emphasised.
The rubbish issue has resurfaced after Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan mentioned the Bantargebang problem in a central government meeting. He urged that the landslide incident and its impact on rubbish accumulation should not recur.
Pramono agreed and said that DKI has prepared land for the construction of a waste-to-energy power plant (PLTSa) as a long-term solution.
“I agree with the Coordinating Minister. Bantargebang has been burdened for too long with too heavy a load. There is already 55 million tonnes of rubbish there,” Pramono said.
Pramono added that Jakarta will build three PLTSa facilities and has written to the Coordinating Minister for Food and related ministries. This step is expected to be a permanent solution to reduce the burden on Bantargebang.
“What is the President’s directive for PLTSa, including at Bantargebang, we will immediately follow up,” Pramono said.
The DKI Provincial Government has assured that it will accelerate waste management so that rubbish pile-ups on Jakarta’s streets do not recur.
As is known, the mountain of rubbish at Kramat Jati Main Market in East Jakarta caused the boundary wall separating the rubbish pile from the river and residents’ settlements to collapse. The rubbish then overflowed to the surroundings.
Observations at the location on Tuesday (31/3) showed that the boundary wall is right on the riverbank. There are two points on the wall that remain collapsed to this day. One collapsed point is about 10 metres wide, the other about 2 metres.
Local resident Tuswadi said that one of the collapsed walls happened around early or mid-March. The larger collapse occurred about two months ago.
“If this one (2 metres) was half a month ago. It collapsed at night,” said Tuswadi when met at the location.