PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - The Mayor of Bandung, Muhammad Farhan, said that the delivery of waste from Bandung City to the Sarimukti Final Disposal Site (TPA) throughout January 2026 still refers to the old regulation with a maximum limit of 170 trips per day.

The average shipment reaches 170.04 trips per day or around 979 tons of waste per day.

"Throughout January, our average shipments have been 170 trips per day. This is still in line with existing regulations, as there are currently no new policies regarding the transportation quota to the Sarimukti Landfill," Farhan said on Sunday (February 1, 2026).

Farhan explained that on Sundays, no waste was sent to the Sarimukti TPA because there was no reception.

This situation resulted in increased traffic on Monday, making upstream management crucial to reduce congestion at polling stations.

"Because there are no deliveries on Sundays, there's always an increase on Mondays. This is what we must anticipate by processing at the source and strengthening the TPS system," he said.

Regarding field conditions, Farhan acknowledged that there had been an increase in piles of rubbish at several points, particularly in the sub-city areas (SWK) of Bojonegara and Tegallega.

In addition, operations at the Sarimukti landfill also experienced obstacles due to rainy weather which affected the maneuverability of heavy equipment.

"Some time ago, there were queues of vehicles, and some even overturned due to the slippery ground conditions caused by rain. This has drawn our attention, including the possibility of optimizing heavy equipment to ensure smoother loading and unloading," he said.

Farhan also touched on waste management at the Caringin Main Market, which is privately owned.

According to him, several environmental document requirements remain unmet between December 2025 and January 2026. However, market management has formed a task force involving vendors.

"At Caringin Market, improvements have been made. Residents' waste entering the market area is now collected at two locations: Kopi and Cikuran, each equipped with a container, and transportation is regulated," explained Farhan.

Furthermore, waste processing at Caringin Main Market has begun. However, the market is still allocated a three-trip daily quota to the Sarimukti Landfill as a precautionary measure in case of excess waste.

In an effort to strengthen waste management from upstream, Farhan revealed, the Bandung City Government launched the Gaslah program on January 26, 2026 in Ujungberung.

This program aims to encourage waste sorting and processing at the household and RW levels.

"We're targeting 1,376 active Gaslah officers by the first week of February. If there's still a shortage, we'll conduct re-recruitment in March," he said.

In addition to Gaslah, the Bandung City Government has also recruited one KBS assistant in each sub-district. The initial phase of regional profiling is currently underway before the work plan is developed.

"We're doing all this to reduce our reliance on landfills. This includes restarting the Integrated Waste Processing Facility (TPST), managed through the ISWMP (Improvement of Solid Waste Management to Support Regional and Metropolitan Cities Project) program, which will run until June 2026, so that waste management at the city level can run more optimally," explained Farhan. (Bandung City Communications and Information Office/rka)