Flood-hit sluice gates to be repaired<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government will soon repair the sluice gates
\ndamaged by the recent flooding in the capital, Minister of Public
\nWorks Radinal Moochtar said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Radinal told Commission V of the House of Representatives in a
\nhearing yesterday that some of the gates, which have been jammed
\nby garbage and debris for years, would have to be cleaned as
\nwell.<\/p>\n
The recent floods have worsened the condition of the sluice
\ngates, he added.<\/p>\n
The city had once 39 sluice gates, but many of them are now
\nout of order because of garbage. He did not say how many sluice
\ngates are still operational.<\/p>\n
The biggest flood in the last 20 years hit 58 subdistricts in
\nthe capital city a couple of weeks ago, killing at least 10
\npeople.<\/p>\n
The floods, which washed away 200 houses and destroyed 200
\nother buildings, inflicted a total of Rp 39.54 billion in
\nmaterial losses.<\/p>\n
Deputy Governor for Social Welfare R.S. Museno has said it
\nwould take the city administration Rp 13 trillion (US$6.04
\nmillion) to replace the buildings and infrastructure destroyed by
\nthe floods.<\/p>\n
Radinal said yesterday that one of the main problems in
\ndealing with floods is cleaning the garbage out of the 13 rivers
\nwhich run through various parts of the city.<\/p>\n
People dump 6,000 cubic meters of garbage into the capital's
\nbiggest river, the Ciliwung, every day, he said. \"The garbage is
\nclogging up the rivers.\"<\/p>\n
On Jan. 7, the flooding occurred when 8, 500 cubic meters of
\nwater per second flowed through the city's waterways, he said.<\/p>\n
While the western waterways could accommodate 290 cubic meters
\nof water per second, and the other canals could accommodate only
\n50 cubic meters of water per second. \"The water which could not
\nbe accommodated by the waterways spilled over into the
\nresidential areas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Radinal explained that the government had planned to build
\nwaterways as part of the eastern flood control system, but the
\nconstruction had yet to start due to land appropriation problems.<\/p>\n
\"We have to spend about Rp 1.3 trillion for land
\nappropriation, while the construction will cost just about Rp 500
\nbillion,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
He said that other steps to prevent major floods will include
\nthe interconnection of the 13 rivers which flow through the city.<\/p>\n
\"We are still undertaking the feasibility study for the
\nproject which will connect the Dadap, Tanjungan, Muara Karang,
\nAncol and Muara Angke rivers, as well as other smaller
\nwaterways.\"<\/p>\n
Radinal said his office will also apply a method called the
\nhydraulic flushing system to dredge a number of river mouths.
\n(icn)<\/p>",
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