Temporary Rubbish Depot on the Banks of the Pesanggrahan River at Tanah Kusir Cemetery Closed Permanently

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The temporary waste storage site (emplacement) on the banks of the Pesanggrahan River at the special block of Tanah Kusir Cemetery, South Jakarta, was permanently closed on Friday (27/3/2026).

Observations by Kompas.com at the location revealed that the land along the Pesanggrahan Riverbank is now free of rubbish, leaving only a expanse of red soil with one excavator unit.

A red banner reading “Announcement: Emplacement Permanently Closed” was erected on the land by officers from the Waste Handling Unit (UPS) of the Water Body Division of the Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH).

The closure of the emplacement was overseen by the Head of the Jakarta Environmental Agency, Asep Kuswanto.

“So today we are closing the emplacement at Tanah Kusir Cemetery,” Asep said when met at the location on Friday.

Asep stated that the emplacement was closed to preserve the environment. Not only at Tanah Kusir Cemetery, but emplacements along other riverbanks will also be closed soon.

“Emplacements along rivers like this will also be closed gradually,” Asep said.

Asep explained that emplacements on riverbanks were originally intended to facilitate the mobilisation of rubbish transport trucks in collecting waste from water bodies.

The rubbish stored at the emplacements does not usually remain for long as it is always transported to larger storage sites at the TB Simatupang emplacement.

The Tanah Kusir Cemetery emplacement accommodated rubbish from rivers in the Pesanggrahan, Kebayoran Lama, and Kebayoran Baru areas.

Meanwhile, the TB Simatupang emplacement handles rubbish from the entire South Jakarta region before the residue is transported to the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Processing Site in Bekasi.

“So we ensure that this is not household waste, kitchen waste, or domestic rubbish, but purely waste from water bodies, from rivers, that we temporarily store,” he clarified.

The closure of this emplacement follows a viral post on Thread by a netizen alleging that a UPS Water Body DLH DKI Jakarta truck was dumping rubbish into the Pesanggrahan River.

The photo was uploaded by the account @murwidianti and taken from inside a vehicle. The image shows a small rubbish truck (tipper truck) with a white cabin and red body stopped across the asphalt road shoulder directly bordering the river.