City allocates more money for flood projects<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The city administration has increased the allocated funds for
\nflood-related programs to Rp 355 billion (US$39.4 million) this
\nyear from Rp 250 billion last year, though this is still not
\nenough to finance the programs.<\/p>\n
The head of the City Public Works Agency, IGKG Suena, said on
\nFriday some Rp 65 billion of the 355 billion, which will come
\nfrom the 2003 city budget, would be used for the east flood canal
\nproject.<\/p>\n
"We are still hoping the central government will fulfill its
\npromise to help finance the (east flood canal) project," Suena
\ntold The Jakarta Post after meeting with Governor Sutiyoso at
\nCity Hall.<\/p>\n
The 2003 city budget amounts to Rp 11.075 trillion, a
\nsubstantial increase from last year's budget of Rp 9.7 trillion.<\/p>\n
Suena said about Rp 50 billion of the Rp 65 billion would be
\nused to appropriate some of the land needed for the 23-kilometer-
\nlong canal, which will require 230 hectares of land.<\/p>\n
He said the remaining Rp 15 billion would be used for the
\nfirst phase of construction on the canal, which was designed by a
\nconsulting firm from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1970.<\/p>\n
"We will start the construction this year, although not all of
\nthe land has been appropriated," Suena said.<\/p>\n
The east canal, along with the 15-kilometer-long west flood
\ncanal, which was built during the Dutch colonial period, is hoped
\nto be the key to significantly reduce flooding in the city by
\naccommodating water from the city's 13 rivers before it reaches
\nthe sea.<\/p>\n
The development of the 100-meter-wide canal, which run along
\nthe eastern part of Jakarta, was earlier estimated to cost Rp 7
\ntrillion.<\/p>\n
The five-year project started last year with the appropriation
\nof land along the canal-to-be, while construction will begin this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
After the massive flooding that hit Jakarta in February last
\nyear, the central government promised to help finance the
\ndevelopment of the east flood canal. But it remains unclear when
\nthe government will disburse the promised funds.<\/p>\n
Suena also said on Friday his agency would use about Rp 45
\nbillion of the Rp 355 billion to improve the city's 13 rivers.<\/p>\n
The rivers, which have narrowed over the years, will be
\ndredged and widened to increase their capacity to accommodate
\nwater and reduce flooding, he said.<\/p>\n
The river normalization program has been criticized in the
\npast because garbage removed from the rivers has been piled on
\nthe riverbanks and left there. The garbage eventually plunged
\nback into the rivers because the sanitation agency never took it
\nto the city's main garbage dump in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi.<\/p>\n
Besides the garbage problem, Suena said, the city's rivers had
\nnarrowed along with the presence of settlements along the
\nriverbanks.<\/p>\n
He also said the city had allocated Rp 24 billion for "order
\noperations" along the west flood canal and the Angke River in
\nWest Jakarta, and the Pluit Dam in North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Past order operations, which involve the eviction of illegal
\nsettlers, have been criticized as violating human rights because
\nthose evicted have lived along the riverbanks for years. In
\naddition, the evicted settlers paid fees to officials in
\nsubdistrict offices for the right to live along the riverbanks.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-allocates-more-money-for-flood-projects-1447893297",
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