Jakarta to focus on tackling flood relief not prevention
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration decided on Tuesday not to pursue flood-prevention projects due to lack of funds and instead to focus on flood relief, especially helping flood victims in flood- prone areas around the city.
"The central government had promised to provide the fund (to build the East Flood Canal). But until now they haven't released the fund," Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo told reporters at City Hall.
Fauzi claimed that limited funds from the city budget had forced the city administration to prioritize dealing with post- flood problems.
"It would be impossible to allocate all the budget to build the canal. Our funds are not unlimited," he said.
The central government earlier promised to help finance the development of the 23-kilometer canal estimated to cost Rp 7 trillion (US$777 million) after massive floods hit the city in February this year.
The canal along with the current West Flood Canal are believed to be able to accommodate the city's 13 rivers, channeled their water through Jakarta's northern coastal areas to the Java sea.
Besides the canals, the dredging of rivers, which also needs billions of rupiah, is needed to prevent the floods.
The city administration, whose 2002 budget amounted to Rp 9 trillion, has spent more than Rp 200 billion to finance the programs implemented after the floods in February this year.
The administration also collected Rp 4.5 billion in a charity night for flood victims in March. But the fund became a controversy after it was given to ICE on Indonesia (a non- governmental organization), which is led by television presenter Irma Hutabarat, in May.
The organization, which planned to give scholarships to the children of flood victims, reportedly did not disburse the fund. Irma has been questioned by the police in connection with allegations of misappropriation of the fund.
Sutiyoso held a meeting with Fauzi and top city officials, including the city's five mayors at City Hall on Tuesday to discuss plans for flood relief. The meeting was the first since the governor and deputy governor were installed on Monday.
Fauzi said the administration would concentrate on the 169 flood-prone areas in the city.
"So, now, the handling of flood disaster will not be concentrated at City Hall since we believe that these areas have their own problems related with the floods," he told reporters after the meeting.
Fauzi revealed that he and Sutiyoso would visit the flood prone areas to collect information and plan the handling of the floods in the areas.
They will visit Kalideres subdistrict of West Jakarta next week, he said.
He said the city administration would invite several non- governmental organizations that had experience in helping flood victims during the floods in February this year, to offer advice.
Jakarta will likely see flooding during the peak of the rainy season early next year. The rainy season is expected to start later this month but sporadic downpours have occurred, the latest one on Monday night causing pools of water around the city.