KWC project to flood out Pulomas

KWC project to flood out Pulomas

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hasan, not his real name, has been living in Pulo Nangka since
his early childhood, but never in his life did he witness a flood
as severe as that which occurred in early 2002. Water three
meters high inundated his house, which is located beside the
Pulomas racetrack in East Jakarta.

He said the flooding was terrible, even though there were no
construction projects being undertaken in the area back then.

"I'm afraid that if the construction of the shopping complex
in the water catchment area near the racetrack is not halted,
floods in the future will be much worse. And this means that the
residents here will have to suffer more," he said.

Hasan was expressing his misgivings over the construction of a
shopping complex, to be known as the Korea World Center (KWC), to
the east of the Pulomas racetrack -- considered to be one of the
city's few remaining green areas. The project is a collaborative
venture between PT KWC of South Korea and PT Pulomas Jaya, a
city-owned firm.

The 22,000-square-meter shopping complex will host
supermarkets, car showrooms, restaurants, a sports center, music
lounge and offices, among other things.

"The planned shopping complex is being built on top of a pond
which normally accommodates water that falls during the rainy
season. But now they have filled in the pond, and piled three
meters of dirt on top of it," he told The Jakarta Post on
Thursday.

It is plain to be seen at the site that the level of the soil
there is higher than the main road.

Hassan said that the loss of the two-meter-deep pond would
result in worse flooding in the luxurious Kayu Putih housing
complex, located to the east of the area.

"But the hardest hit will be Pulo Nangka and the Pulomas flats
to the north of the construction project," he said, adding that
during the last flood, the water rose up to the second floor of
his house.

Contacted separately, a resident of the Kayu Putih housing
complex, Sugiyanto (50), said the residents of the complex were
now bracing themselves for worse flooding as a consequence of the
construction of the shopping complex.

"As you can see, dozens of houses have been raised up by one
or two meters. The owners are trying their best to avoid the
floods," said Sugiyanto, a stall owner who has been living in the
neighborhood for the last 25 years.

To make things worse, he said that another construction
project was underway on a derelict 0.5-square-hectare site inside
the housing complex.

"This project is apparently being undertaken by the same
developer who is building the KTC," he said.

According to Sugiyanto, future floods would be more severe as
a result of the building being carried out in water catchment
areas in the neighborhood.

Earlier, an activist from the Environmental Task Force, Ahmad
Syafruddin, told the Post that he doubted if an environmental
impact analysis had been conducted on the project.

"Such an analysis requires the active participation of local
residents. As someone who is active in a community organization
in Pulomas, I can assure you that most of the residents here
resent the project," he said.

The chairman of PT KWC pledged to issue a statement on whether
or not an environmental analysis had been undertaken, but at the
time of going to press the statement had still not been received.