Viral Video of DLH Vehicle Dumping Waste into River at Tanah Kusir Cemetery, DKI Denies
The DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH) has affirmed that there was no waste dumping from a DLH vehicle into the Pesanggrahan River at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta.
A photo of a DLH vehicle dumping waste into the river at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery went viral on social media. An account shared the photo of the DLH vehicle dumping waste into the river at the cemetery.
Head of the Water Body Waste Handling Unit (UPSBA) of DKI Jakarta DLH, Dadang Cahya Rusdiana, explained that the activity of the dump pickup vehicle seen in the post is part of official operations, not dumping into the river.
Based on field investigations, the location in question is an official temporary storage point or emplacement belonging to UPSBA in the Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery area, specifically in the Special Block.
“We need to clarify that there is no waste dumping into water bodies. The activity shown is the official temporary storage process, and all operations at the site are well-controlled,” Dadang said in an official statement, quoted from the DLH website.
According to him, the circulating photo was likely taken from a viewpoint level with the road, creating the perception that waste was being dumped into the river.
“In fact, the activity is at a legitimate storage point and there is no dumping into water bodies,” he emphasised.
He added that the narrow road access in the cemetery area makes it impossible to place waste containers at the site. Therefore, waste is temporarily placed in the area below the embankment as a collection point before being transported using vehicles suitable for the field conditions.
Although located near the Pesanggrahan River, all activities are conducted in designated areas and ensured not to come into contact with water bodies.
“We ensure that no waste enters water bodies. The site is also used to collect tree topping remnants from Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery by the Parks and City Forestry Department. The location is equipped with HDPE floating cube barriers, and all management processes are carried out according to standard operating procedures,” Dadang concluded.
Meanwhile, DKI Environmental Agency Head Asep Kuswanto stated that the viral location is an emplacement or temporary river waste storage site.
“I need to explain to everyone that this emplacement specifically at Tanah Kusir Public Cemetery has existed since 2014 and is one of the first emplacements we use in DKI Jakarta,” Asep told reporters on Friday (27/3), quoted from detikcom.
He said the emplacement’s function is temporary placement of waste originating from rivers, not household waste.
“The function of this emplacement is indeed as a temporary placement site for waste from river waste, water body waste, and not from residents. So this emplacement serves water body waste from Pesanggrahan, Kebayoran Baru, and Kebayoran Lama,” he said.
Asep explained that there are six mini-dumps serving the emplacement. The waste is then moved using an excavator to be promptly transported to TB Simatupang or TPSC Bantargebang.
“There are about six mini-dumps served through this emplacement, as a temporary waste placement site. Then it is moved using an excavator that has been there for a long time, transferred to our small dump trucks,” he said.
“Then taken to TB Simatupang or to Bantargebang, to TPSC Bantargebang as our final processing site in Bantargebang and TB Simatupang,” he added.
Asep explained that the emplacement is like a TPS for placing waste from water bodies in three sub-districts.
“So we assure you that it is not household waste, kitchen waste, or domestic waste. But purely waste from water bodies, from rivers that we place temporarily, and this emplacement is also used by one of them, the Parks and City Forestry Department,” he clarified.
“For the results of tree topping in this cemetery, there are a lot of leaves. And that is sometimes used by the parks and forestry department to place their waste, which is then transported by us to TB Simatupang or TPSC Bantargebang,” he concluded.