Flood canal project hits a brick wall

Flood canal project hits a brick wall

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It is growing increasingly unlikely that the city
administration will allocate the Rp 1.3 trillion (US$138,298)
needed for clearing the 250 hectares of land for the East Flood
Canal Project this year as expressed by city Governor Sutiyoso in
February.

Head of the city planning agency (Bapeda) Ritola Sasmaya said
here on Saturday that the 2002 city budget for development
projects was Rp 3.63 trillion, while the funds allocated for
drainage and flood projects was only Rp 294.3 billion.

"If we have to spend Rp 1.3 trillion for the land clearance,
we have to cut other development projects. But I'm not sure there
are any projects that could be canceled," Ritola said.

The 23-kilometer long East Flood Canal project which is
estimated to cost about Rp 12 trillion is a joint project between
the Central Government and the city administration as an effort
to solve the annual flood problem in the city.

Sutiyoso said in February that the land clearance, which is
the responsibility of the city administration, should be
completed this year to assure that the project construction,
which will be finalized within 10 years, could be started this
year.

Ritola said that financial constraints were not the only
problem in implementing the land clearance as the land owners
demanded that their lands should be priced much higher than the
Taxable Property Sale Value (NJOP).

Ritola said that the city public works agency could only pay
the owners 40 percent of the NJOP. But he said that there were
two regulations on the land clearance that contradicted each
other.

"One regulation says that the city should buy land from the
people at the NJOP price. Another regulation says that the land
price should be determined by negotiations with owners. That's
another problem," he added.

"If the city allocates money for the land clearance, there
should be a political decision (made by the city council and city
administration)," he added.

The East Flood Canal is part of the government's plan to build
a half-circle-like canal along the northern and eastern parts of
the city that will function as a massive drain for the 13 rivers
here, which originate in the highlands of Bogor and Depok in West
Java and empty into the Java Sea off North Jakarta.

The other project is the 14-kilometer long West Flood Canal
constructed in 1924 by the Dutch colonial government. That canal
needs to be upgraded and properly maintained as it has fallen
into disrepair in recent years.

A feasibility study and design plan for the East Flood Canal
was done by an Amsterdam-based consulting group, Nedeco, in 1976,
but has not yet been acted upon, and since that time thousands of
houses have been illegally built in the areas designated for the
canal.