Flood control not seriously addressed in city budget
Flood control not seriously addressed in city budget
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city councillors were disappointed with Governor Sutiyoso
for not making the flood control program a top priority in the
proposed 2002 City Budget.
Deputy chairman of Commission D for development affairs, Bimo
Hastoro, was of the view that the flood control projects worth Rp
294 billion (about US$29 million) allocated in the budget would
not be enough to solve the flood problem.
"The administration should put the flood problem in the
category of a 'crash program'. It should allocate more money to
handle the problem," Bimo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle said Tuesday.
He suggested that the administration use the city's emergency
fund, amounting to Rp 600 billion, for flood projects.
The Emergency fund has been collected from city budget
surpluses since 1999.
The city administration proposed Rp 294 billion for flood
control projects this year, a slight increase from last year's Rp
290 billion.
According to the proposed budget, the fund would be used to
continue the development of the East Flood Canal, the widening of
city rivers and purchasing water pumps.
Sutiyoso admitted that the lack of funds had limited flood
control projects, but said that the projects would be started
again gradually.
"We need Rp 1.2 trillion alone for the East Canal land
appropriation," he told reporters while inspecting the flood from
the toll road in North Jakarta.
About 230 hectares of land are required for the development of
the East Flood Canal.
Last year, he said, the city allocated Rp 40 billion for land
appropriation, but only Rp 20 billion was spent due to the high
price of the land.
Along with the 17-kilometer West Flood Canal which was built
during Dutch colonial times, the 23-kilometer East Canal would be
able to accommodate the city's 13 rivers before the water flows
to the Jakarta sea.
The governor repeatedly reiterated the fact that 40 percent of
Jakarta, or 24,000 square meters of land, is located on low land,
as the reason for the floods.
So, he rejected on Tuesday a suggestion that the emergency
fund should be used for the flood program.
While the flood control funds are only slightly increased in
the Rp 8.9 trillion proposed budget, there are other programs
which will see a high increase of funds, including the public
order office.
The administration suggested a 50 percent increase for the
public order office from Rp 40 billion last year to Rp 60 billion
this year.
It was believed that Sutiyoso planned to sharply increase it
because he is often criticized by councillors for failing to
uphold public order.