DLH Buleleng to coordinate cleanup after illegal dumping complaint

Singaraja — Buleleng’s environmental agency plans to coordinate with Kubutambahan and Bengkala villages after residents reported illegal dumping near the boundary between the two communities, according to local media and district officials. The agency says it will work with the villages to organise a cleanup at the reported site.

The response follows complaints from residents about waste being discarded outside the formal collection system at the inter-village boundary area between Kubutambahan and Bengkala in Buleleng regency, North Bali, according to a report by Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI). Kubutambahan village has separately highlighted waste problems and the need for joint solutions with the regency, underscoring that waste management cannot be handled by one party alone.

Made Agus Suardana, head of the waste and hazardous-and-toxic-materials management division at Buleleng’s Environmental Agency (DLH), said waste management in rural areas is the responsibility of each village government, RRI reported. Even so, he said the agency will coordinate with Kubutambahan and Bengkala to carry out cleaning at the boundary location mentioned in the complaint.

Agency weighs housing-area waste pilot

Alongside the response to illegal dumping, DLH Buleleng has also reacted positively to residents’ proposals for waste-management points in housing areas. Suardana said the proposal aligns with the government’s source-based waste-management programme, which aims to handle waste closer to where it is generated and reduce the volume sent to the final processing site.

According to RRI, the agency will study the possibility of a pilot project in one housing complex that has suitable space and enough personnel to manage the facility. The pilot would focus on sorting and managing waste at the source so that less waste needs to be transported to the Bengkala final processing site (TPA).

DLH Buleleng has been working in recent months to improve waste handling at TPA Bengkala and move away from open dumping towards a more controlled landfill system, according to the agency’s own releases. Officials say better management at the landfill and greater efforts to treat waste at the source are both needed to cut volumes going to the site and improve environmental conditions.

Focus on shared responsibility

Suardana’s comments on rural waste responsibility echo statements from village leaders in Kubutambahan, who have stressed that waste problems must be addressed through cooperation between the village and the regency rather than leaving the burden to one side. DLH’s plan to coordinate with both Kubutambahan and Bengkala on cleaning the boundary area reflects that shared-responsibility approach.

The agency has not publicly detailed a timetable for the boundary clean-up or specified what equipment, staffing or budget will be deployed at the site. RRI’s reports also do not identify which housing complex might host the pilot project or when it could begin, noting only that DLH will “deepen” the proposal and explore a project that could later be replicated in other residential areas.

Officials at DLH Buleleng say the broader aim is to ensure more waste is sorted and managed where it is produced, supported by public education and village-level initiatives, so that the Bengkala landfill can operate under stricter environmental standards with lower incoming volumes.

Sources

• RRI Singaraja – "DLH Buleleng Respons Keluhan Warga soal Sampah Liar"
• Desa Kubutambahan official site – "SINERGI ATASI SAMPAH: PERBEKEL KUBUTAMBAHAN DAN BPD"
• DLH Buleleng official site – "VERIFIKASI LAPANGAN TENTANG KELANJUTAN PENATAAN TPA BENGKALA"