City to pay for damage caused by uprooted trees
City to pay for damage caused by uprooted trees
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Depok
Governor Sutiyoso affirmed on Saturday that his office would
plant trees as soon as possible to replace those destroyed in
tropical storm Linda which hit the city on Friday. He also said
residents would be given an "acceptable amount of money" for the
damage caused by the storm.
"I am concerned by the incident last Friday in which many
trees fell on houses, cars and roads. It was a disaster. But we
can't offer full compensation. It's impossible to replace a
damaged BMW with a new one," he said.
Sutiyoso was speaking on the sidelines of the planting
ceremony of 2,500 teak seedlings at the Depok campus of the
University of Indonesia during the Let's Green Our Home campaign,
organized by the university's School of Communications and the
Sedaun Foundation, an environmental organization.
Separately on Saturday, Jakarta Park Agency head Sarwo
Handhayani said the administration would provide a maximum of Rp
10 million (US$1,190) in compensation.
"The residents are invited to claim compensation (their cases)
will be assessed by insurance company Askrida, a partner of the
agency," she said.
The violent storm flooded streets and uprooted hundreds of
trees -- about 300 in South Jakarta alone -- causing massive
traffic jams throughout the city and disrupting rail service
until late in the night.
Trees fell on houses in Kebayoran Baru area, including the
house owned by the family of the late Yoga Sugama, former chief
of the National Intelligence Agency. The family estimated that
they had suffered Rp 200 million (US$23,810) in damages to their
house and a Mercedes-Benz E320.
Most of the toppled trees were angsana which were planted in
the 1980s as part of efforts to green the capital.
According to head of the South Jakarta Park Agency, Harun
Alrasyid, there were about 5,000 trees growing along main
thoroughfares which were prone to falling during heavy rain.
He told Tempointeraktif, that canary trees, banyan, palms,
khaya and poinciana trees were also vulnerable.
He claimed that his office had replaced 50 trees in South
Jakarta, which had fallen during the period of heavy rain from
November to January, with 1,000 new trees.
However, he stressed, residents were prohibited from cutting
down trees without approval from the city administration.
On Sunday, workers from the city park and sanitation agencies
were seen clearing toppled trees and branches in South Jakarta
and across the city.
According to Handhayani, logs will be taken to the seedling
unit of the park agency in Srengseng, West Jakarta. The leaves
will be used as compost, she added, while residents are allowed
to take branches home.
She expected that the streets would be clear of debris by
Tuesday, the first day of work after Idul Adha, or the Islamic
Day of Sacrifice.