Canal construction hampered by land clearance
Canal construction hampered by land clearance
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
With President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to officiate
the construction of the East Flood Canal today, Jakarta
administration is still having a headache in land clearance for
the project.
Head of the Jakarta Public Works Agency IGKG Suena said on
Wednesday that the administration has so far could only cleared
10 percent of a total 400-hectares of land affected by the
project.
"We have yet to find any scheme on how to clear the lands
regarding the owners' demand of compensation," he told the press
after explaining the project to Governor Sutiyoso.
Suena said that the administration is currently having a
serious problem in setting the compensation of the lands since
the owners demanded higher price than offered. The administration
refers to the price in the selling price of taxed properties
(NJOP) set by the ministry of finance's director general for
taxation.
The NJOP reveals that the price of land in the areas affected
by the project varies from Rp 300,000 (US$36.6) to Rp 800,000 per
square meter. The residents have demanded a higher price and some
of the request even double the NJOP.
The East Flood Canal together with the existing West Flood
Canal will create a half-circle-like canal which will function to
take in water from 13 rivers in the city, which originate in the
highlands of West Java.
The 23.5 kilometer-long and 100 to 300 meter-width East Flood
Canal lies from Cipinang in East Jakarta to Marunda in North
Jakarta.
Suena estimated the administration, tasked only to clear the
land, needs some Rp 2.47 trillion fund only to clear the 400-
hectare lands. A release from the directorate general for water
resources at the Ministry for Resettlement and Regional
Infrastructure showed a different figure for the land clearance
which is Rp 2.186 trillion.
The central government will finance the 7.5-kilometer
construction with the budget of Rp 1.938 trillion. The remaining
16-kilometer construction will be financed by the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC) in loans. However, the figure
from the administration is different as it estimates the
construction will cost Rp 2.527 trillion.
The building of the canal is expected to control the annual
floods that inundate many parts of the capital.
The demand to build the canal rose greatly following the
massive floods in February last year. At least 31 people were
killed in the calamity and 380,000 people became homeless.
The existing West Flood Canal, which is 14-kilometer long from
Manggarai in South Jakarta to Penjaringan district in North
Jakarta was constructed in 1924 by the Dutch colonial government.
It also needs to be upgraded as it has become very shallow.
Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that his administration was ready
to negotiate with land owners to reach reasonable land price.
"We will not stick to the NJOP but we also hope that the
people will not demand much higher price since the East Flood
Canal project is very important in resolving floods in the city,"
said Sutiyoso, who claimed that he was ready to resign after last
year's floods.
Basic fact of East Flood Canal
1. The East Flood canal refers to Master Plan for Drainage and
Flood Control of Jakarta created by Nedeco in 1973. Detail design
was held by Nikken Nippon Koei in 1990 and 1993 and JICA study in
1997.
2. The canal will accommodate water from five rivers in eastern
part of Jakarta: Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jatikramat and Cakung
rivers.
3. Water catchment area covers 20,074 hectares.
4. Once the canal's construction is finished, it will protect
some 15,401 hectares or 25 percent from the total territory of
Jakarta from floods.
5. The project will be completed within seven years.
6. It will also function for water transportation.