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)