Banten Provincial Government to Establish Water Resources Agency for Flood Management

The Banten Provincial Government plans to establish a Water Resources Agency (Dinas SDA) focused on flood management. The agency will be carved out of the Public Works and Spatial Planning (PUPR) Agency.

Head of the Banten Province PUPR Agency, Arlan Marzan, stated that the provincial government is currently processing the split of this regional apparatus organisation (OPD) with the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri). Currently, flood issues are handled by the PUPR Agency.

“The recommendation process from the Ministry of Home Affairs is still ongoing,” Arlan said on Wednesday (10/6/2026).

Arlan mentioned that the separation and formation of the new agency will be completed by the end of this year. After receiving the recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the provincial government will process it into a Regional Regulation (Perda).

“Hopefully, the recommendation from the Ministry of Home Affairs will come out by the end of this month at the latest. After that, it goes to the Provincial DPRD, because the establishment must be through a regional regulation,” he said.

With the existence of the Water Resources Agency (Dinas SDA), the handling of flood problems will be more focused and faster. “Because later there will be an agency focused on handling floods and irrigation infrastructure,” he said.

Previously, Banten Governor Andra Soni stated that the handling of water resources (SDA) issues in his region is still partial. He said that flood management in Banten needs to be carried out in an integrated and collaborative manner.

Andra Soni was recently inaugurated as the Chairman of the Banten Province Water Resources Council for the 2026-2030 period. Meanwhile, Arlan Marzan was appointed as Daily Chairman of the Water Resources Council.

Andra detailed several main challenges in water resources management within the Banten Province at present.

“The main challenges are the continuously increasing population growth in Banten, secondly, the need for settlements, and then the functional shift of rivers which must be managed and reorganized again,” Andra said after the inauguration ceremony in Serang City, Banten, on Tuesday (9/6).

Andra also requested all members of the Water Resources Council, who come from various cross-sector water management agencies and organisations, to work together. They were asked to contribute thoughts and suggestions to overcome water issues in Banten.

“We are still partial, using the old sectoral methods. For example, we have two River Basin Organisations, BBWS C3 and others. Then there are rivers under provincial authority, now this must be integrated,” Andra explained.