Learning from Aceh, Minister of Public Works Tackles Brebes Floods Starting from the Babakan River Estuary

BREBES, KOMPAS.com – The overflow flooding that inundated the national highway in Brebes for up to six hours during the Eid homecoming traffic has become a red flag for the Ministry of Public Works (PU). In response, Minister of Public Works Dody Hanggodo conducted an inspection of the critical points at the Babakan River and the Pejagan-Ketanggungan road section on Saturday (28/3/2026). “The sedimentation appears to be extremely severe at a glance,” Dody stated while surveying the affected location. Unlike the conventional approach that often starts from the upstream area, Dody instructed his team to carry out mitigation in reverse: from the estuary towards the upstream. “Our experience in Aceh shows that the quickest method is to clean the estuary first. The distance from here to the estuary is not too far. If the estuary is addressed, the water can flow more quickly to the sea,” he emphasised. Dody stressed that cleaning the estuary must be followed by the construction of jetties or guiding embankments on both the right and left sides. “It’s not just about cleaning; jetties must be built so that the sediment does not return to the river but is held back by the jetties. My theory is, if the estuary is sorted, the water flows smoothly. Then we can proceed upstream gradually,” he added. For context, the Brebes flooding was triggered by the elevation at the Cisadap Weir reaching +5.50, or 3 metres above normal. This impacted seven villages and disrupted the homecoming traffic for six hours. Therefore, the Cimanuk Cisanggarung River Basin Organisation (BBWS) has prepared a flood control structure scheme that includes detention ponds in Padakaton and Kedawung villages. There are nine work packages, including riverbank reinforcement along 26 kilometres. Head of BBWS Cimanuk-Cisanggarung, Dwi Agus Kuncoro, explained that the total budget amounts to Rp 270 billion. “This Rp 270 billion budget is for river normalisation packages plus concreting (lining). If talking about the entire packages, they may be completed by the end of 2028. However, specifically for the estuary sector, we target completion by the end of 2026,” Dwi reported to the Minister of Public Works. Dody gave a tight deadline for the estuary work so that the mitigation effects are felt during the rainy season at the end of 2026. He does not want to see water overflowing and submerging the national road asphalt again.