ABRI members clean up rivers

ABRI members clean up rivers

JAKARTA (JP): About 500 members of the Armed Forces (ABRI)
were set to work cleaning up Apuran river in the Cengkareng Timur
sub-district of West Jakarta on Sunday.

They were deployed to assist measures which the city is taking
to prepare for above average rainfall which has been forecast to
bring flooding to the capital over the coming months.

Assisted by hundreds of local residents, the soldiers and
police officers dredged mud and cleared garbage clogging up the
river over a 1,500-meter stretch flowing through a densely
populated residential area. The river channel is only six metres
wide along the stretch.

The one-day operation was witnessed by Jakarta Military
Commander Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman, ABRI Chief of General
Affairs Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi, ABRI spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul
Ma'arif, West Jakarta Military District Commander Lt. Col. Herry
Suryanto and West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Timur Pradopo.

Herry said the operation was also part of preparations for the
commemoration of the Armed Forces 53rd anniversary which falls on
Oct. 5.

He said that similar operations were also conducted in East,
South, Central and North Jakarta, Bekasi and Tangerang.

"We want to help avoid flooding during the rainy season," he
said.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Bureau (BMG) recently warned
Jakartans of the possibility of major flooding due to the La Nia
weather phenomenon. (ivy)