Eastern flood canal project won't be canceled, says Rais

JAKARTA (JP): Deputy governor of economic and development affairs Tb. M. Rais said yesterday the municipality would not cancel the long-planned eastern canal project.

Commenting on recent reports that the project would be canceled, Rais said the project was necessary to protect the eastern parts of the capital from worse flooding.

"We have never considered canceling the project despite the fact that we lack funds to start it," Rais told reporters at City Hall.

The assistant to the city secretary of development affairs, Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, said the city administration had not been informed of any plan to cancel the eastern canal project.

"The discussions between the municipality and the Ministry of Public Works are still proceeding," Prawoto said.

Both Rais and Prawoto were responding to recent statements made by the head of the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers improvement project under the Ministry of Public Works, Siswoko.

Siswoko told journalists in Bogor last week that the ministry and the city administration were re-evaluating the continuation of the 28-kilometer project, which was first planned in 1973. The project was aimed at regulating the Cipinang River.

The re-evaluation of the eastern canal project was intended to reduce the cost and social impact, he said.

Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar had earlier said the government halted the project for financial reasons.

"The project requires some Rp 1 trillion (US$417.54) just for land appropriation," Radinal said.

Loans and other foreign funding did not include compensation for relocating residents, he said.

Rais said yesterday that land appropriation had also hampered the project. "The land around the (planned) project site belongs to residents and housing developers. This makes land appropriation more complicated," Rais said. "We are going to talk with the developers about the matter soon."

Prawoto said the central government was in charge of the land appropriation funds. The city administration, he said, only assisted the government in the process of appropriation.

"So far, we have appropriated 400 square meters of land," he said.

Tunnel

According to Siswoko, the government and the municipality would instead start the construction of a 20-meter deep tunnel connecting the Ciliwung River in Jakarta and the Cisadane River in Bogor, West Java.

The one-kilometer tunnel, which would be a part of the western flood control system, is believed unlikely to spark social unrest caused by land appropriation.

The tunnel project was given priority after last year's floods killed at least 30 people and led to losses of at least Rp 90 billion. The floods were blamed on several factors, including the uncompleted state of the eastern canal.

When asked whether the eastern canal project was included in the new city plan, Prawoto said he did not know about it. "I haven't received the new plan," he said.

He added that the eastern canal project was included in the current city planning, which is now under review.

Last week, councilor Lukman F. Mokoginta urged the municipality to include the eastern canal project, or an alternative plan, in the new urban plan for the 1985/2005 period. (ste/11)