Pramono Reveals Horrific Cakung Congestion Caused by Imbalanced Container Flow
Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung has revealed the cause of the severe traffic congestion occurring along Jalan Raya Bekasi through to Jalan Raya Cakung-Cilincing in East Jakarta. According to him, the congestion was triggered by the flow of imported containers entering Jakarta being out of balance with the flow of empty containers for export.
“The congestion happened because what comes in and what goes out is not balanced. At the moment there are very many containers carrying imports entering Jakarta. But the empty containers for export happen to have seen a significant decline, so queues are forming everywhere,” said Pramono in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Thursday (23/7/2026).
To untangle the congestion, Pramono said he had instructed the Head of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency to ensure empty containers are no longer parked on the carriageway. In their place, the Jakarta Provincial Government has prepared Terminal Tanah Merdeka as a buffer zone.
“I have already decided and told the Head of the Transportation Agency, Mr Budi — last night I telephoned him and I decided that the empty containers must no longer park on the road. No more parking on the road. That is what caused the extraordinary congestion,” he said.
Pramono said Terminal Tanah Merdeka can accommodate more than 200 empty containers. To encourage its use, the Jakarta Provincial Government is granting a discretionary waiver of parking fees on a temporary basis.
“So we are using Terminal Tanah Merdeka as a buffer zone. Since these are mostly empty containers, they don’t want to pay distribution fees. Therefore, from 22 July to 5 August, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is granting a discretionary fee waiver so they don’t park along the road,” he explained.
He hopes all logistics businesses will make use of the facility so that empty containers no longer fill the carriageway and trigger congestion.
“So once again, we ask anyone with such activity to please take advantage of the discretion issued by the Governor to park at Tanah Merdeka, which can accommodate more than 200 containers,” he concluded.
For reference, the congestion in Cakung towards Cilincing was first reported on Tuesday (21/7/2026) in the morning. The Traffic Management Centre of Polda Metro Jaya reported via its official account that the congestion had occurred since 07:36 WIB.
The congestion started from the traffic light under the Cakung elevated road, affecting traffic from Cakung towards Cilincing as well as towards Harapan Indah in Bekasi.
The congestion apparently recurred on Wednesday (22/7/2026) at midday. That day’s congestion was also caused by container trucks queuing at length in the left lane of the road.