Government to build big tunnel to prevent floods

BOGOR (JP): The government has come up with a flood control program they believe has the least likelihood of sparking social unrest caused by land appropriation.

Plans are to build a 20-meter deep tunnel connecting the Ciliwung river in Jakarta and Cisadane river in Bogor, West Java, to prevent floods in the city, the head of the Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers improvement project under the Ministry of Public Works, Siswoko, said.

Land appropriation for the underground project would hardly be necessary, he said late Wednesday.

The purpose of the one-kilometer tunnel stretching under Bogor with a diameter of eight meters, was to divert some of the Ciliwung's flow into Cisadane, Siswoko said. This would help prevent a repetition of last year's floods, he said.

Siswoko said the Ministry of Public Works and the municipality also plan to re-evaluate the need to continue with the long- awaited eastern flood canal project, planned since 1973.

Objection to the city's compensation offers has been the main obstacle in the 24-year-old project.

Evaluating the eastern flood canal plans was to reduce costs "and to minimize social impact," Siswoko said. He was referring to public protest mainly sparked by land appropriation.

The canal's construction was last estimated at Rp 1 trillion (US$417.54 million).

But the tunnel was not a substitute to the canal project because it is part of the western flood control project, he said.

In January the Ministry of Public Work's Director General of Water Resources, Soeparmono, said the city's flood control program faced the dilemma of having to demolish more than 5,000 homes, mostly shacks.

Loans and other foreign funding do not include compensation for removing residents, he said.

Canceling the eastern flood control project, Siswoko said, would depend on evaluations but there could be other alternatives.

Last year's floods, which killed at least 30 people, and led to losses of at least Rp 90 billion, were blamed on several factors including the unbuilt state of the eastern flood canal leading to the overflow of the Cipinang river.

Siswoko also said there could be other priorities in the flood control programs.

"Even though the eastern flood control project has been planned since 1973, we are evaluating it again based on current conditions. Maybe the priority has changed now," Siswoko said.

He said a joint team of the Ministry of Public Works and the city's public works agency have carefully evaluated and determined priorities in the flood prevention projects.

Among initial conclusions, he said, the Ciliwung was given the priority in the new master plan.

Fragile

"The recent floods show the fragile state of the Ciliwung," he said. The ponds along the western flood control area are in a "very critical" condition.

"If they cracked, I couldn't imagine what would happen in Jakarta," Siswoko said.

Possible alternatives to the eastern flood control project include building series of ponds an empty plot near the Halim Perdanakusuma airport to curb the Cipinang's flow.

He said the plan to ease the Cipinang river flow was in the new master plan for Greater Jakarta.

Siswoko said the tunnel project was also included in the new loan proposal to the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF).

Costs could not be estimated yet as the feasibility study had yet to be completed, he said.

The tunnel project is scheduled to start next year after completion of the basic design. (ste)