Flood prevention projects fail to control floods

It is almost certain that tens of thousands of people -- or maybe even more -- in the city will be affected by floods in the coming rainy season, as the flood prevention projects being implemented by the city administration will not significantly reduce the number of areas prone to flooding.

Suena, Head of the Public Works Agency IGKG, has said that 34 districts throughout the five municipalities in the city are prone to annual flooding, which comprises a total of 78 areas spanning 66 subdistricts.

He added that the flood prevention projects which have been implemented by his agency could only resolve floods in five areas, which means that people living in the 73 remaining areas should prepare for flooding during the rainy season.

According to Suena, the flood prediction in the 73 areas is based on normal conditions of rainfall. If the average rainfall during the coming rainy season is higher than normal, as it was this past January, more areas would be inundated.

The cumulative rainfall at the peak of the rainy season in Jakarta normally measures about 400 millimeters (mm). The Meteorological and Geophysical Agency (BMG) said that in January and February of this year, the cumulative rainfall reached 600 mm, and further predicted that the cumulative rainfall for the coming rainy season in December and January will be about 500 mm.

The routine budget allocated by the city administration for flood prevention projects is Rp 62.98 billion. In addition, the City Public Works Agency received Rp 224 billion, while an additional amount of Rp 49.5 billion was allocated towards clearing land for the Eastern Flood Canal, and another Rp 58.45 billion was provided for projects handled by the Public Works offices of the five districts.

Wishnu S. Yusuf, head of the Water Resources Division of the City Public Works Agency, said that the agency has 13 flood prevention projects financed by the 2002 city budget.

However, he said that eight of the projects would not be completed this year because some parts of the projects should be funded by the 2003 city budget.

The 13 flood prevention projects being implemented by the Public Works Agency are located in: Serdang, Kebon Kacang, Rawa Buaya, Pluit, Kapuk Kamal, Angke, Bukit Duri, Gunung Sahari, Mangga Besar, Pasar Jumat, Tanjung Duren, Kelapa Gading, and Cempaka Putih. The flood prevention projects include dredging rivers and canals, repairing flood gates and water pumping stations, and removing garbage from rivers.

It has been said that Cempaka Putih, Serdang, Sumur Batu, Sunter Jaya, and Pasar Jumat are five areas which may be freed from next year's floods.

In response to comments on the sluggish process of the flood prevention projects, Suena said that there were a number of procedural problems: first, the 2002 Budget was approved by the City Council in late January, not early January as planned; and second, the floods which occurred in January and February have caused many officials in his agency to concentrate on how to help the flood victims instead of on preventative measures.

Finally, according to Suena, the tender of the projects was implemented around March and April, then took another three months to process, so the projects were implemented around July and August.

"The procedures were unavoidable. I also wish that the projects could have been realized immediately," Suena said.

He added that the city's gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial elections had also affected the implementation of the flood prevention projects, because it absorbed the concentration of city officials.

"During the period, the governor and many officials were quite busy, while we needed to coordinate with other institutions and also with the governor," he said. -- Bambang Nurbianto