After the Bantargebang tragedy, the DPR asked the government to prepare an emergency waste strategy for Eid.

Aerial photos of a number of heavy equipment operating while searching for victims of a garbage landslide at the Bantargebang Integrated Waste Processing Site (TPST), Bekasi, West Java, Sunday (8/3/2026) evening. (Photo: ANTARA FOTO)

Member of Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Elpisina, asked the government to immediately prepare emergency steps to anticipate the explosion of waste volume after Lebaran. According to him, the increase in public consumption during Ramadan to Eid al-Fitr is expected to trigger a drastic increase in household waste which has the potential to burden the capacity of final disposal sites (TPA).

"The Bantargebang tragedy that killed seven people must be a serious lesson. Don't let there be any more victims due to the management of garbage that is not handled properly. The government must prepare an emergency strategy to anticipate the surge in Lebaran garbage," Elpisina told reporters, Saturday, March 14.

Elpisina assessed that this seasonal surge in waste should no longer be considered a normal routine. Moreover, he said, Indonesia has just mourned the tragedy of the landslide of the garbage pile at the Bantargebang landfill, which claimed seven lives.

"The Bantargebang tragedy is a mirror of the urgency of waste management in the country. Jakarta as an economic center does not have a qualified waste management, let alone other areas," he said.

This PKB legislator assessed that dependence on the TPA as the only solution was no longer adequate and tended to be dangerous. Without rapid governance reform, he said, the accumulation of uncontrolled waste could trigger the risk of environmental disasters and human safety.

"TPA should no longer be the only solution. We need concrete steps, ranging from increasing transportation capacity to optimizing waste processing at the regional level. Waste governance reform from upstream to downstream is a must," he said.

Elpisina also asked the central and regional governments to increase intensive coordination to strengthen the modern sorting and processing system of waste at the source. This is aimed at ensuring that the burden on the landfill does not reach a critical point when the peak of the post-Eid al-Fitr waste flow occurs.

"The government must move quickly. Coordinate across sectors so that this post-Eid surge in waste can be handled sustainably without causing environmental impacts, let alone human casualties later on," he concluded.