City asked to prioritize Eastern Flood Canal project

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Disappointed with the city administration's policy for dealing with flooding, the City Council urged the administration on Friday to allocate 10 percent of the Rp 11 trillion city budget in 2003, or about Rp 1.1 trillion, to construction of the East Flood Canal.

"The administration should not rely on the central government to construct the canal. If it did, the canal would never see the light of day," Council deputy chairman Chudlory Syafei Hadzami told reporters at a year-end media conference.

Accompanied by the two other deputy chairmen, Chudlory, of the United Development Party, predicted the 23-kilometer (km) canal could be completed within the next seven years if the administration were to allocate Rp 1.1 trillion per year to it.

He also called on residents, whose land was located in the line of the proposed canal, to sell their land to the project in accordance with the sale value of taxable property (NJOP), as stipulated in the government regulation on land.

"The administration should make construction of the East Flood Canal its top priority," he said.

Development of the canal is predicted to cost Rp 7 trillion, more than 60 percent of which would be spent on acquisition of the 230 hectares of land needed for the project.

After massive flooding in the city earlier this year, the central government promised to help finance the construction of the canal. However, as of now, it is still unclear whether the central government will really fund the project.

The canal, along with the existing 15-km West Flood Canal, built during the Dutch colonial era, is believed to be able to accommodate water from the city's 13 rivers and significantly reduce floods.

Separately, City Development Planning Office head Ritola Tasmaya revealed that the administration would allocate Rp 1 trillion to flood prevention projects next year, but not solely for the East Flood Canal.

"We cannot not allocate any more than that. There are many other projects that should also be prioritized," Ritola, just appointed city secretary by the council, stated at City Hall.

He said about Rp 65 billion would be allocated for land acquisition for the canal project while the remaining funds would be used to finance several flood prevention projects, such as dams in West and Central Jakarta and an improvement program (including dredging, clearing of garbage, etc.) for the city's rivers.

This year, the administration has spent Rp 50 billion on the acquisition of 2 hectares of land for the East Flood Canal, which will run through East and North Jakarta.

Most residents have refused to sell their land in accordance with the NJOP as the open market price is currently far above that of the NJOP.

Meanwhile, the administration has refused to raise its offer price, saying that would be a violation of government regulations.