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)