City asked to prioritize Eastern Flood Canal project

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.