Flood is chief worry for most North Jakartans

Flood is chief worry for most North Jakartans

JAKARTA (JP): Despite the construction of new dikes, floods
remain North Jakarta's headache.

Flood was the residents' main complaint when Governor Surjadi
Soedirdja visited Papanggo subdistrict in Tanjung Priok over the
weekend.

They said that there is no way they can stop flood waters from
inundating their homes, especially when heavy rains are pounding
Jakarta and the Bogor area where some rivers originate.

Surjadi, who was accompanied by head of Jakarta Public Works
Office Soeharto, said that the city administration has spent a
lot of money to control floods in low-lying areas.

The government has built dams in the eastern, western and
southern parts of Sunter, North Jakarta, to accommodate water
from several tributaries.

The administration is constructing an eight-hectare dam in
Sunter which is designed to protect an area of 200 hectares,
including Rawabadak, Plumpang, Papanggo, Lagoa and the Navy
housing complex in Kodamar. The Rp 14 billion (US$6.2 million)
project is expected to be operational by the end of this year.

North Jakarta is highly prone to flood because some areas are
as low as 80 centimeters below sea level.

Soeharto once said that the administration's effort to
overcome flood problems in the city is thwarted by many factors,
including the community's bad habit of throwing garbage
recklessly into rivers and building houses along rivers banks.

Governor Surjadi told the North Jakarta mayoralty to help
improve residents' discipline which, he said, is vital in the
effort to maintain cleanliness.

He called on the mayor to involve not only officials but also
community leaders and religious figures in the ongoing discipline
drive. (32)