Cleanup of slums along Ciliwung will continue

Cleanup of slums along Ciliwung will continue

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso pledged yesterday to continue
cleaning up slums along Ciliwung River, the largest of 13 rivers
in the capital, to help prevent flooding during the rainy season.

"Some 60 percent of the slums along Ciliwung River have thus
far been cleared," Sutiyoso said during a seminar at City Hall on
surveying and underground mapping.

Gradually the municipality will purge the city's riverbanks of
slums and illegal buildings to create a healthier environment, he
said.

"I visited Ciliwung River on Tuesday," he said. "From the
helicopter I saw that some of the riverbanks are still
overcrowded with slums. I will move the residents of these slums
as soon as possible."

Sutiyoso has suggested the residents be relocated to low-cost
apartments in Bidara Cina, Klender, Pulo Gebang and Pondok Bambu,
all in East Jakarta.

"And, in line with the clean river program, the municipality
will build more low-cost apartments in the city."

He said his staff were still surveying the suitability of
plots for the construction of low-cost apartments.

"There is no reason for people to keep living in shacks in the
slums along the riverbanks ... they have to move," the governor
said. "Besides blocking the flow of water, living alongside a
river is dangerous."

Siswoko, head of a special team for the development and
supervision of Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers, told The Jakarta
Post Tuesday that major floods had been predicted for Greater
Jakarta, which includes Tangerang, Bekasi and Bogor.

He said Greater Jakarta is to launch a "back to nature"
concept which encourages people to adopt an environmentally
friendly approach to development in a bid to minimize the impact
of the yearly floods.

The back to nature concept is designed to increase people's
awareness of how to live safely, including constructing a
building without damaging the surroundings, he said.

"For instance some school buildings in areas prone to flooding
are built on stilts so that they remain safe during the rainy
season," Siswoko said.

Among the school buildings built on stilts are those situated
in Koja and Penjaringan subdistricts, North Jakarta.

Building schools on stilts was an idea approved by former
Jakarta governor Surjadi Soedirdja.

Siswoko said that according to the concept, buildings near
river banks in areas such as Bogor, Cianjur and Puncak, must be
equipped with waste water injection wells and more trees to help
facilitate the flow of water.

Siswoko, who is also head of Greater Jakarta's flood
prevention team, said that he would campaign aggressively to
ensure people understood and abided by the concept.

He admitted that the municipality has yet to establish the
necessary regulations to enforce the back to nature concept.

"So, I urged the governor to issue strong regulations to back
up the 'back to nature' idea." (07)