Environment Minister Decries Bantargebang Tragedy as Failed Waste Management

RRI.CO.ID, Bekasi - Indonesian Minister of Environment Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has labeled the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Treatment Site (TPST) a symbol of Jakarta’s failed waste management system following a catastrophic trash landslide that claimed four lives. The disaster, which occurred on Sunday, March 8, 2026, involved a 50-meter-high mountain of waste collapsing in Zone IV, burying residents and workers under decades of the capital's refuse.

The tragedy serves as a grim milestone for the site, which has accumulated approximately 80 million tons of waste over 37 years. Minister Hanif emphasized that the incident was not merely an accident but a foreseeable consequence of utilizing illegal "open dumping" methods that violate National Law No. 18/2008.

The March 2026 collapse at Bantargebang is the latest tragedy in a dark timeline defined by decades of systemic neglect. This pattern of disaster stretches back to 2003 and 2006, when major landslides resulted in multiple fatalities and buried dozens of scavengers beneath the waste.

The site’s instability was further highlighted as recently as January 2026, when a catastrophic structural failure dragged three garbage trucks into a nearby river. This cycle has now culminated in the March 2026 disaster in Zone IV, where a combination of extreme overloading and heavy rainfall triggered the lethal slide that claimed four more lives.

The four victims identified in the latest incident are Enda Widayanti (25), Sumini (60), Dedi Sutrisno (22), and Iwan Supriyatin (40). Minister Hanif warned that such loss of life is an "alarm" that the Jakarta Provincial Administration can no longer ignore.

The Ministry has initiated a full-scale investigation and law enforcement action. On March 2, just days before the collapse, the Ministry's Law Enforcement (Gakkum) unit had already issued a Notice of Commencement of Investigation (SPDP) for the site due to its high-risk conditions.

“We must solve the root of Jakarta's waste problem so that there are no more victims. This incident should not have happened if management was carried out according to the rules. TPST Bantargebang must be a lesson for us all to immediately improve for the safety of human lives and environmental sustainability,” Minister Hanif said during his inspection of the landslide site on Monday, March 9, as quoted by Antara.

Under Law No. 32/2009 regarding Environmental Protection and Management, those found responsible for negligence leading to death face 5 to 10 years in prison and fines ranging from IDR 5 billion to IDR 10 billion.

As an immediate corrective measure, the government plans to pivot Bantargebang’s role. The site is slated to transition exclusively toward inorganic waste management, supported by a more robust sorting system at the source and the optimization of the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) facility in Rorotan.

The Ministry is now pushing for a cross-agency synergy to ensure that Jakarta’s daily waste output of 8,000 tons is handled safely and within legal regulations. While the immediate focus remains on recovering all victims, the long-term goal is to dismantle the dangerous "mountain of waste" model in favor of modern, safe processing facilities. ***