Government to build big tunnel to prevent floods
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)