City restarts delayed East Canal project

City restarts delayed East Canal project

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration has started the development of the
delayed East Flood Canal project, which will span 23 kilometers
from East Jakarta to the sea off North Jakarta, as part of its
efforts to overcome flooding in the city.

Chief of the City Public Works Agency IGKG Suena said on
Saturday that his office was currently carrying out land
clearance for the canal construction. "And we'll start digging a
6.5 kilometer passage between Cipinang River and Buaran River
early next year," he said.

The 23-kilometer East Flood Canal will span DI. Panjaitan,
Cipinang, Buaran, Pondok Kopi, Cakung (all in East Jakarta) to
Marunda beach in North Jakarta.

The project, which was earlier handled by the central
government, was supposed to have started in 1986 but was delayed
for reasons that remain unclear.

"We hope the development of the 23-kilometer canal will be
completed in five years," Suena said.

He said the project's development, which was designed by
Amsterdam-based consultant Nodeco in 1976, would need Rp 1.3
trillion (US$130 million).

The agency's water management division head, Leo Yanmer
Sianturi, said the administration had acquired some 3 hectares of
land worth Rp 40 billion this year for the canal, which needs 230
hectares of land.

Leo said some 40 percent of the 230 hectares of land are
expected to be donated as a social and public facility by 14
private developers of housing complexes in East Jakarta.

"We would ask developers, including PT Modern Land, to give
the land up as their obligation," he told reporters.

He said the remaining 60 percent of the project, which would
separate Jatinegara district and Duren Sawit district, should be
provided by the administration.

He said the canal project would require a huge budget as the
market price for some of the land needed for the project was very
expensive.

"But if we want to tackle the flood problem, we have to
complete the canal project," Leo remarked.

In North Jakarta, the government has also constructed a canal,
which is called the West Flood Canal with a length of about 20
kilometers.

When finalized, both the West and East Flood Canal will become
one flood canal spanning a half circle from Ancol beach to
Marunda beach. It will combat flooding in Jakarta by taking in
the overflow of water from all of the city's 13 rivers, which all
empty into the northern coastal areas.

The administration earlier demolished hundreds of illegal slum
houses in the west canal's riverbank in an effort to overcome the
problem of flooding.

Suena said on Saturday that his office would set up fences and
build a road along the canal's riverbank to prevent people from
entering.