Temporary River Waste Dumping Site at Tanah Kusir Cemetery Closed, Pramono Reveals the Reasons

The Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH) has closed the emplacement, or temporary river waste holding site, at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta. Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung revealed the reasons for this decision. “Yesterday’s incident in Pesanggrahan. To be honest, I’m grateful, not sad—no, I’m really thankful. Because of that, I finally decided that such temporary holding sites are no longer allowed,” Pramono stated to reporters at Tosari Bus Stop in Central Jakarta on Friday (27/3/2026). “Because it would be, first, inefficient. Second, the management would become even more difficult. Third, the costs would also rise. Therefore, temporary holding sites are not permitted, not allowed, so from the collection points, we will arrange for the waste to be taken back to either Bantargebang or Rorotan,” he concluded. Previously, the Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH) clarified that there was no dumping of waste from DLH vehicles into the Pesanggrahan River at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery. DLH Head Asep Kuswanto closed the temporary river waste holding site. “So as of today, we are closing the emplacement at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery, and we hope this becomes our commitment to preserving the environment,” Asep told reporters on Friday (27/3). He explained that the location was a temporary site, not a TPS (temporary waste disposal site). His agency would close the emplacement immediately that day. “And also because it’s temporary in nature, and there are a few other places like this. We will make improvements and ensure that emplacements along rivers like this will be closed gradually,” he added. Asep explained that after the closure, waste disposal would be redirected to the Simatupang TB (temporary landfill). He noted that the transit at the riverside of Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery was due to the considerable distance. He emphasised that DLH Jakarta is striving to preserve the environment, including rivers. Even with emplacements, DLH Jakarta guarantees that no waste is dumped or flows into the sea or rivers in Jakarta. “So we hold the waste with every barrier, then bring it to land, and then we place it in the minidump at those emplacements. It’s really to speed up waste handling services in water bodies,” he concluded.