The East Jakarta Environmental Sub-agency is assisting in tackling waste accumulation at the Kramat Jati Wholesale Market. The support is being provided over a three-day period, from Friday (3/27) through Sunday (3/29).

Kramat Jati Sub-district Enviromental Executing Unit Head, Dwi Firmansyah stated that his office is only providing temporary assistance to clear the waste accumulation, as waste management at the Kramat Jati Wholesale Market is the responsibility of Perumda Pasar Jaya.

"For three days, from this past Friday to Sunday, we are assisting with waste disposal. Every day, 20 dump trucks are deployed to haul waste to the Bantar Gebang Integrated Waste Treatment Site (TPST) in Bekasi," he expressed, Saturday (3/28).

He stated that they cannot fully resolve the waste issue in the commercial zone as it is not abandoned waste, but waste with a specific producer.

He stressed that taking full responsibility for the cleanup could breach Law No. 32/2009 (as amended by Law No. 11/2020 on Job Creation). The law requires businesses to prevent environmental pollution and degradation by ensuring all waste from their operations is handled correctly.

Additionally, Law No. 18/2008 on Waste Management mandates that all waste generators, including businesses, must reduce and manage waste at the source. Consequently, they cannot simply let trash pile up or pass the full management responsibility to the authorities.

This is underscored by Jakarta Bylaw No. 3/2013, which requires business operators to segregate waste, provide necessary facilities, and ensure disposal follows legal standards.

"As a commercial zone, Kramat Jati Wholesale Market should be self-sufficient in managing its waste, not dependent on the city government," added Dwi.

He further emphasized that as the market’s waste is mostly organic, it should be processed on-site into compost rather than hauled to Bantar Gebang, consistent with Ministry of Environment guidelines.

Kramat Jati Wholesale Market Manager, Agus Lamun, thanked the Environmental Agency for their support. He noted that the market is currently reviewing a plan to develop its own independent waste management system.

He stated that by May, the management will handle its own waste disposal to the Bantar Gebang TPST using five trucks each day.

"For our short-term plan, we are already composting about one ton of waste daily," he noted.

Additionally, one ton of waste is sorted every week, and some is repurposed by locals as animal feed. Nevertheless, these measures are still insufficient to manage the actual volume, causing trash to keep piling up.

For the long term, the management is collaborating with the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to implement fully independent waste management, processing approximately 150 to 200 tons daily.

Agus hoped for continued assistance in waste handling from the Environmental Agency while awaiting the realization of both the short-term and long-term programs.