Flood causes eviction postponement

Flood causes eviction postponement

JAKARTA: The City Public Order Office had to postpone a plan to evict people living in the West Flood Canal, North Jakarta, due to flooding.

The postponement was greeted with relief by the people living on the river banks who were thankful for the heavy downpour, which had started early on Monday.

Chief of Penjaringan district Setiabudi Supardan said the cancellation was unavoidable as the flooding was bad, reaching a depth of nearly 100 centimeters.

"Our trucks and bulldozer could not reach the location due to the large amount of water everywhere. We'll have to wait until it dries out."

About 700 officers, including 120 policemen, had been scheduled to participate in the demolition along a two-kilometer stretch of the canal, which was occupied by around 2,500 people. -- JP