Tempat pembuangan sampah terbuka terbesar di Bali akan ditutup selamanya pada tanggal 23 Desember. Namun penutupan yang telah lama dinantikan ini kini mengalami lebih banyak kendala.
Menyusul pemberian perpanjangan waktu penutupan, demonstrasi pun terjadi di Denpasar ketika tim pengumpulan sampah menyuarakan keprihatinan mereka terhadap solusi pembuangan sampah yang berkelanjutan ketika TPA Suwung ditutup.
Suwung TPA is Bali’s largest open landfill. Located close to some of Bali’s top tourism resorts, including Sanur and Nusa Dua, the landfill was opened in 1984.
Currently standing over 10 storeys high and sprawling over 32 hectares, Suwung TPA receives more than 1,000 tonnes of trash every day. The site technically stopped receiving organic waste as of August this year; however, it is unclear how much mixed waste has still been permitted to be dumped at the site.
Dengan volume sampah yang begitu besar yang masih belum bisa diolah melalui sistem pembuangan sampah alternatif (TEBA), TPS3R (Daur Ulang dan Daur Ulang), TPST (Daur Ulang dan Daur Ulang), mesin pencacah dan pengurai, serta sistem pengelolaan sampah berbasis sumber, Walikota Denpasar menulis surat permohonan resmi kepada Gubernur Bali Wayan Koster untuk meminta perpanjangan penutupan.
As a result, Governor Koster has communicated with the Indonesian Minister of Environment, Hanif Faisal Nurofiq, who has granted a two-month extension. In a statement, Governor Koster wrote, “The Minister of Environment has provided a response in the form of a decision to extend the deadline for implementing administrative sanctions until February 28th, 2026.”
Governor Koster explained, “The Mayor of Denpasar and Regent of Badung are committed to ensuring that the closure of the Suwung Landfill must be carried out no later than February 28th, 2025. After that, they will not request a postponement or extension of the closure period. They will also ensure that no waste will be dumped at the Suwung Landfill by March 1st, 2026.”
Keputusan ini mendapat tanggapan beragam dari warga sekitar dan pemerhati lingkungan di Bali.
Namun bagi banyak orang, pemberitahuan perpanjangan penutupan terbukti menjadi berita buruk.
On 23rd December, hundreds of independent garbage truck operators gathered in a demonstration in Denpasar to call for a better solution to be sought.
The Chairman of the Bali Waste Self-Management Communication Forum (Forkom SSB), Wayan Suarta, told reporters, “This two-month delay means nothing. The PSEL construction process alone takes up to two years. Therefore, we request that the Suwung Landfill be permanently opened until a real solution is found.”
He added, “According to Law Number 18 of 2008, the government is obliged to ensure proper and environmentally conscious waste management.”
Speaking at the SSB Communication Forum, Secretary I Wayan Sujendra told reporters that all existing efforts to create alternative waste processing systems in Bali have been insufficient, leading to even greater reliance on independent garbage truck operators who transport waste directly to open landfills like Suwung TPA.
He shared, “Hundreds of billions of rupiah have been disbursed, but the results are suboptimal. Meanwhile, we, as a tax-compliant waste collection service that contributes to the local revenue (PAD), seem to be neglected.”
It remains to be seen if the Suwung TPA will be formally and finally closed on 28th February 2026, but what is evident is that there is still a lot more work to be done if Bali wants to mitigate its waste management issues in a sustainable way for the betterment of the environment, local residents, and tourists.
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