Rubbish Piling Up in Tambora Rental Flats Since Early 2026, Here's the Cause

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The accumulation of rubbish in the waste disposal area of the Tambora Rental Flats (Rusunawa), West Jakarta, has been occurring since the beginning of 2026.

The cleanliness implementer at Rusunawa Tambora, Soiful Bahri, stated that the rubbish buildup is caused by a reduced fleet of transport trucks and the absence of drivers from the West Jakarta Environment and Hygiene Sub-District Office (Sudin LH).

As a result, the vertical waste disposal system or shaft (trash chute) in the flats has experienced severe blockages and piling up, reaching the sixth floor in one of the towers.

Under normal conditions, trucks from the Sudin LH can collect rubbish three to four times a week when empty, specifically for the flats’ tower area.

However, now the collection frequency is only one to two times a week, causing the rubbish to pile up uncontrollably.

Moreover, the trucks that arrive are often already half-full from other points, limiting their capacity.

“Eventually, the rubbish that was, for example, a total of 18 bins full, can only be collected up to seven or six bins. There’s still leftover, it piles up, adds more, and this continues every day,” said Soiful.

The Head of the Environment and Hygiene Implementation Unit (Kasatpel) for Tambora Sub-District, Harun, confirmed that the reduced collection frequency has been happening since the beginning of the year.

He assessed that it is not solely due to issues at the Bantargebang TPST, but because four truck units cannot operate due to a lack of drivers.

“That’s correct, from the beginning of the year. Previously, the fleet in Tambora was around 38, then it decreased by four units based on the data, leaving 34 fleets. Actually, it’s not reduced, but the drivers were dismissed,” Harun explained when contacted by Kompas.com on Tuesday.

The absence of replacement drivers means those four fleets cannot be used.

“So the fleets have no one to drive them, ending up unused. There’s no reserve driver in Tambora either. So it’s been reduced since the beginning of the year,” said Harun.

Nevertheless, adding drivers or fleets is no longer possible due to policies limiting the transport fleet to the Bantargebang TPST.