Flooding in Jakarta inavoidable: City official<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Jakarta cannot avoid being flooded as 40 percent of the city
\nis on low-lying land, a senior official of the city
\nadministration said here on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"We can only minimize the negative impacts by improving all
\nfacilities that deal with floodwater,\" said IGKG Suena, chairman
\nof the city's public works agency.<\/p>\n
He said that another contributory factor was the low level of
\nawareness among residents about environmental conservation. Along
\nJakarta's 13 riverbanks for example, people continue to erect
\nbuildings, reducing the channels' capacity to hold water. \"That's
\nwhy, when incessant rainwater hits Jakarta, floods always
\nfollow,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Suena said the known areas prone to flooding, which still
\ntotaled 80 in January, had been reduced to 78. The areas which
\nare no longer considered flood-prone are IKPN Bintaro, South
\nJakarta and Bimoli intersection, Pluit, North Jakarta, he said.<\/p>\n
He added that at Bintaro the agency had built a dam to hold
\nback the floodwater, and in Pluit it had constructed a floodwater
\ndiversion facility, which channeled the Ancol river's overflow to
\nthe sea at Ancol beach.<\/p>\n
He said that every year the city's public works department
\nspent about Rp 20 billion (US$2 million) in its attempts to
\nminimize the impact of flooding in Jakarta. The funds, among
\nother things, were spent on dredging rivers, improvements to the
\ndrainage system and water-control systems in the 13 rivers that
\nflowed through the capital.<\/p>\n
Data from the city's public works agency shows that of the 78
\nflood-prone spots in Jakarta, 22 are in North Jakarta, 18 in
\nSouth Jakarta, 17 in West Jakarta, 12 in East Jakarta and nine in
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The flood-prone spots in Central Jakarta include Mangga Dua,
\nMangga Besar and Cempaka Putih; in North Jakarta they are
\nPademangan, Rawa Badak and Sunter Jaya; in West Jakarta
\nKemandoran, Meruya and Jelambar; in South Jakarta Poncol, Bukit
\nDuri and Rawajati; and in East Jakarta Kampung Rambutan, Kebon
\nPala, Kampung Melayu.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the agency's maintenance division chief Wishnu S.
\nYusuf said it would build two more water pump facilities to
\nreduce flooding in the Cempaka Putih and Sumur Batu areas of
\nCentral Jakarta and Pasar Jum'at in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Wishnu said the agency needed Rp 50 billion to build a water
\npump facility, which would include the cost of the pump and of
\nacquiring the necessary land.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes land acquisition is difficult, as residents seek
\ncompensation at three times the market price,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>",
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