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.