City only able to provide flood plan, not prevention<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A lack of funds to develop flood control facilities for the
\nnext five years has forced the city administration to prepare
\nonly an emergency plan to help flood victims in Jakarta, an
\nofficial said.<\/p>\n
The official said that the administration had allocated some
\nRp 45 billion to help flood victims next year. The funds will be
\nused to establish public kitchens, temporary shelters, health
\ncenters, medicines and evacuation equipment such as rubber rafts.<\/p>\n
\"For next year, we can only prepare an emergency plan for
\nflood victims as we have not been able to complete flood
\nprojects,\" head of the city planning agency (Bapeda) Ritola
\nSasmaya said on Monday.<\/p>\n
According to Ritola, the Rp 45 billion was an emergency fund,
\nnot included within the city budget. It will be used by the city
\nadministration to resolve various social problems in the city.<\/p>\n
The city administration was widely criticized over its poor
\nhandling of flooding problems and victims during the massive
\nfloods in January and February.<\/p>\n
Ritola said that the development and improvement of flood
\ncontrol facilities, which need some Rp 17 trillion, included the
\ndredging of the city's main rivers, repairing drainage systems
\nand the construction of new projects like the Eastern Flood
\nCanal, which would be completed within 10 years.<\/p>\n
He added the city administration would contribute some Rp 1.7
\ntrillion, or 10 percent of the total Rp 17 trillion, while the
\nremainder would be met by the central government.<\/p>\n
\"The Rp 17 trillion will not only be used for flood projects
\nin Jakarta but also for reforestation of environmentally damaged
\nland in the upper areas of the Puncak, Bogor, West Java,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Ritola said that land acquisition would be the most difficult
\nproblem for the Eastern Flood Canal Project, as most landowners
\ndemanded compensation higher than the taxed property prices
\n(NJOP).<\/p>\n
Citing an example, Ritola said that last year, the public
\nworks department could acquire only 40 percent of the land needed
\nfor its projects.<\/p>\n
He said that investment for the Eastern Flood Canal was about
\nRp 3 trillion. He estimated that the flood canal would be
\ncompleted within five years, not 10, as estimated by many
\nofficials before.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, head of the city public works agency IGKG Suena
\nsaid that his office would focus on the development of the 23-
\nkilometer East Flood Canal.<\/p>\n
But he also added that the city administration was only able
\nto obtain funds of Rp 22 billion for land clearance and physical
\ndevelopment this year.<\/p>\n
The funds, of course, would not be sufficient to meet city
\nGovernor Sutiyoso's ambition to complete the clearance of 250
\nhectares of land this year, which requires about Rp 1.3 trillion.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that the land clearance issue can be resolved
\nimmediately, otherwise we cannot make any progress,\" Suena told
\nThe Jakarta Post on Monday.<\/p>\n
The East Flood Canal is an important element of the
\ngovernment's plan to build a semicircular canal in the northern
\npart of the city that will carry water from the capital's 13
\nrivers to the Java Sea off North Jakarta. The other element is
\nthe 14-kilometer West Flood Canal, constructed in 1924 by the
\nDutch colonial government.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-only-able-to-provide-flood-plan-not-prevention-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}