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Ministry presses charges against Jakarta over Bantar Gebang landfill
The Jakarta Environment Agency, which operates the Bantar Gebang landfill in neighboring West Java, is found to have failed to upgrade the waste water management system at the site, as well as failing to submit new documents on hazardous waste management.
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Overwhelming: Registered scavengers, who mainly collect plastic waste to sell, work on Sept. 14, 2023, as a crane moves garbage up to a higher level at the Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java. The landfill, which is the size of 200 soccer pitches and receives 7,500 tonnes of waste from Jakarta every day, has been declared close to capacity. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
T
he Environment Ministry has opened a criminal probe against the Jakarta Environment Agency over unchecked environmental requirements pertaining to the operation of city-owned Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java, where most of Jakarta’s waste ends up.
The ministry issued the criminal charge against the landfill operator, which is under the authority of the Jakarta Environment Agency, after it failed to resolve administrative sanctions imposed by the government in December 2024.
The sanctions required the operator to, among other things, finish building the required equipment for waste water management and upgrade documents related to hazardous and toxic waste management in the landfill.
In its latest inspections in April and May, the ministry found that the environment agency failed to fulfill the administrative requirements, prompting the Environment Ministry to summon several Jakarta Environment Agency officials on May 23.
Three days after the interrogation on May 26, the ministry said in a statement it was pressing criminal charges against the Jakarta Environment Agency.
“Any responsible parties must comply with the environmental regulations. This is not merely an administrative sanction, but part of a commitment for a sustainable ecosystem,” said the Environment Ministry’s deputy of law enforcement Insp. Gen. Rizal Irawan in the May 26 statement.
He added that the ministry would push for multiple approaches, ranging from administrative sanctions of written reprimand and license suspension to criminal charges, to make violators of environmental policies comply with the prevailing law.
