Flood canal construction still uncertain: Minister

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The construction of the East Flood Canal could be delayed indefinitely as the central government reiterated on Tuesday that it had not found the funds necessary to construct the 23- kilometer canal expected to resolve major flooding in the city.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno said the Japanese government last year offered a soft loan to finance the project, which would cost Rp 4.5 trillion.

"We hope that talks on the loan will commence as soon as possible," the minister told the press after a meeting involving officials from the central government, Jakarta, and the provinces of West Java and Banten.

Soenarno also said that there was an agreement with Japan to construct a canal to connect the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers in Bogor. However, the project failed to materialize due to the objections of Tangerang residents, as they feared that the canal would only bring the floods from Jakarta to Tangerang.

The minister said that he had asked the Japanese government to shift the funds from the canal project towards the construction of the East Flood Canal, but this move has not been agreed upon.

The central government's commitment to constructing the East Flood Canal was expressed early last year when over 300,000 people in the city were affected by huge floods.

The meeting also revealed that so far, no significant efforts had been taken by the West Java administration to repair the environmental damages in the hilly areas of Puncak, Bogor and Cianjur, where the city's major rivers originate, pending the issuance of a presidential decree.

Meanwhile, Governor Sutiyoso stressed the need for an immediate realization of the East Flood Canal, as it was the only way to resolve the flood problems of the city.

Sutiyoso failed to launch the construction of the canal during Jakarta's 475th anniversary on June 22 last year, because of the lack of funds.

So far, the administration has only been able to clear 15 of the total 250 hectares of land allocated towards the project. Together with the 14-kilometer West Flood Canal, the East Flood Canal has been designed to create a semicircular waterway which will accommodate runoff from 13 rivers in the city.

The East Flood Canal project would cost about Rp 4.5 trillion. Of this amount, about Rp 2 trillion will be used to clear the land and another Rp 2.5 trillion will be used for the actual construction of the canal.

The cost of the project is part of the Rp 20 trillion in funds needed to resolve the flooding for 10 years, and the funds are expected from the central government and related regional administrations.

In its entirety, the project involves the improvement of environmental damage in the Puncak area, as well as the 13 city rivers, including resettlement of squatters living along the river banks.

Soenarno said that based on the initial plan, from the total funds of Rp 20 trillion, some Rp 765 billion was expected to be disbursed in 2002, Rp 4.34 trillion in 2003 and the remainder would be used for projects expected to be completed by 2012.