Landslide at Indonesia's Largest Landfill Kills Four, Five Missing Near Jakarta

Jakarta. At least four people have died and five others remain missing after a landslide struck the country's largest garbage dumping site near the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Rescuers on Monday stated that the search operation for the missing individuals is continuing intensely.

According to the National Search and Rescue Agency, the landslide occurred around 2:30 PM on Sunday at the Bantar Gebang waste dumping area, located about 25 kilometers from Jakarta. The landslide buried trucks and roadside food stalls located there.

Rescue teams are using heavy equipment to clear the blocked area, and trained dogs have also been deployed to search for potential victims. Local media reported that the landslide occurred at the dumping site following continuous heavy rainfall.

The Jabodetabek area, comprising Jakarta and its surrounding cities, is home to about 42 million people, and it is estimated that about 14,000 tons of waste are generated daily from this region. It is reported that nearly 55 million tons of waste are piled up at the Bantar Gebang dumping site, which spans over 110 hectares.

Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq held local authorities responsible for the ineffective implementation of the law that prohibits dumping waste in open landfill sites. He stated that this incident must be taken as a serious warning and that the waste management system in Jakarta needs improvement.  

President Prabowo Subianto also warned that most of Indonesia's waste dumping sites are approaching the point of exceeding their capacity by 2028. The government has put forward a plan to invest approximately $3.5 billion to construct 34 projects for waste-to-energy production within the next two years.

Previously, in 2005, 143 people died in a landslide at a waste dumping site in West Java due to a methane gas explosion and heavy rain.