Brebes Flood Temporarily Inundates Mudik Route, Public Works Minister Requests River Normalisation to Start from the Estuary

The government continues to evaluate flood incidents that temporarily affected several areas, including Brebes in Central Java. Flood management efforts are a primary concern, especially ahead of the upcoming rainy season, which could trigger inundation in vulnerable spots again. Besides impacting community activities, the floods also disrupted traffic flow, including on strategic national routes. Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo highlighted the urgency of accelerating flood mitigation in Brebes, particularly for the Babakan River, which suffers from severe sedimentation. He stressed that the initial step should be river normalisation beginning from the estuary. “Yes, there was flooding yesterday, even if only for a few hours,” Dody said during an inspection of the Babakan River area in Brebes, Central Java, on Saturday, 28 March 2026. According to him, although the flooding lasted only a few hours, it still needs to be anticipated to prevent recurrence, especially during high rainfall. From the direct inspection, sedimentation in the Babakan River appears quite serious, slowing the water flow to the sea. Dody explained that experiences in flood management in other regions show that improving the estuary is the most effective step to accelerate water flow. “Our experience in Aceh shows that the quickest solution when the river level is slightly high is to fix the estuary first,” he said. He also revealed that the government already has funding through a World Bank loan for the river normalisation project, including estuary improvements. However, he requested that work be focused first on the estuary. “But I request that the estuary be worked on first. Fix the estuary first, so we can see its effectiveness,” Dody stated. Furthermore, he emphasised that simply cleaning the estuary is insufficient; additional structures must be built to prevent sedimentation from re-entering the river. This is crucial to maintain smooth water flow even with wind direction changes bringing in mud. Dody targets accelerating the completion of estuary work to reduce flood risks in the next rainy season. He even encouraged finishing the estuary work faster than the initial target.