Controlling floods still problem for the city
Controlling floods still problem for the city
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration continues to have difficulty building flood control facilities because of the high cost of land appropriation in flood-prone areas, an official said.
Soeparmono, director general of water resource development at the Ministry of Public Works, told The Jakarta Post that the city administration would have to spend at least Rp 100 billion (US$45 million) just to appropriate the land for the project.
"That was several years ago. Now it could be twice or three times that high," he said.
"The construction of the facilities themselves may cost less, approximately Rp 100 billion," he added.
According to Soeparmono, the ministry should prioritize flood prone locations which are usually located in residential and industrial estates.
He said the administration should invest about Rp 500 billion to build a flood control canal in East Jakarta.
"The dilemma is that the administration will not be able to finance a major project in any area," he said.
"We will not be able to free Jakarta from flooding any time soon," he added.
According to Soeparmono, the administration is systematically handling the problem. One way is to reduce the 80 trouble spots in the city.
"Jakarta has about 24,000 hectares of areas prone to flooding," he said.
Flood canal
"About 7,000 hectares have been improved by the flood canal in West Jakarta," he added.
The latest data from the Ciliwung-Cisadane River Development Project said that the administration has covered 6,100 hectares of flood prone area.
Soeparmono said that flood control facilities for the western parts of the city include the Cengkareng drain, the Angke river, and the Pluit and Cideng water pumps. The Cideng pump also protects the Central Jakarta area, especially around the National Monument.
"Unfortunately, we have not been able to solve the flooding problems in the eastern part of the city, which consists mostly of residential and industrial estates," he said.
The administration is still working on a flood canal to stop 17,000 hectares from flooding in the east.
The administration is also upgrading the Sunter river and building the Sunter Timur III flood control project, which will be completed in January next year. The project is designed to prevent flooding in Rawa Badak and Koja Utara, North Jakarta, which cover a total of 750 hectares.
Another effort is to control the Sunter I dam, which according to Soeparmono will help prevent the flood problems in Rawa Badak.
"Sooner or later, we should free the city from flooding," he said.
Soeparmono stressed that the biggest problem is the administration's inability to finance the project, not technical problems.
The latest data shows that the administration needs about Rp 35 billion to appropriate land for the river cleaning projects in West Jakarta, and about Rp 120 billion for the construction of facilities.
The administration also needs Rp 900 billion to appropriate land in East Jakarta and another Rp 900 billion for construction.
Meanwhile, Rp 160 billion is needed to install water pumps in the city.
Soeparmono said that to overcome flooding, the city administration in cooperation with the project management, has set up a 24-hour flood watch team. (05)