Government has not taken action to prevent flooding

Government has not taken action to prevent flooding

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Weeks have passed since massive flooding devastated the capital,
but work on planned flood-control projects has still yet to
begin.

The work is to be done by both the central government and the
city administration. However, there is no agreement between the
two on how to work together to complete the projects.

The director of the water resources at the Ministry of
Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, Basuki Hadimulyono,
said on Tuesday there was a general agreement between the city
administration and the central government.

This agreement says the central government will dredge the
upper areas of rivers to the Western Flood Canal, while the city
administration will dredge the rivers from the flood canal to the
sea.

The head of the City Public Work Agency, IGKG Suena, however,
denied there was such an agreement.

"I do not think there is such an agreement. There will be
intensive meetings between the city administration and the
central government to discuss the issue after everything related
to the budget report is completed," he said.

The City Council will decide later this month whether to
accept Governor Sutiyoso's budget report.

Suena said five rivers needed to be dredged: Sunter, Cipinang,
Pesanggrahan, Mopokervart and Angke.

He said dredging the rivers in Jakarta was the task of the
central government, but the city administration would also get
involved in the project.

Massive flooding hit the capital in January and February,
affecting over 300,000 people.

Basuki said the central government had allocated Rp 99.5
billion (about US$10.3 million) to dredge several of Jakarta's
main rivers.

The money is expected to be disbursed this month, and the
project is expected to end in November, before the rainy season.

Following several hours of rain on Sunday, three rivers in the
city overflowed: the Pasanggrahan river in South Jakarta, the
Cipinang river in East Jakarta and the Sunter river in North
Jakarta. As a result, several other parts of the city were
inundated.

Suena admitted that his agency had not taken steps to prevent
Monday's floods.

"Don't dream that the work to resolve the flooding problem
will be done overnight," he said.

There are 13 main rivers in the capital, some of them ending
in the 25-kilometer West Flood Canal. The government plans to
complete the 23-kilometer Eastern Flood Canal, scheduled for
completion within 10 years.