Legislators blast govt for failing to control floods
Legislators blast govt for failing to control floods
JAKARTA (JP): Members of the House of Representatives
yesterday blasted the government for failing to prevent the
floods which have hit Jakarta this rainy season.
Legislators from the state budgetary commission in a hearing
with Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar yesterday said the
government should have been more wary of such disasters.
They also questioned the city's flood-prevention system and
the lack of infrastructure to cope with the situation.
"We can't just say this is simply a natural disaster. There
are obviously man-made errors involved," said legislator Potsdam
Hutasoit from the Golkar faction.
Other House members, including R.P. Soebagio, Marwan Adam and
Ni Gusti Ayu Eka Sukmadewi, urged the government to spend
whatever was necessary to solve the problem of floods in the
country's capital.
The floods that inundated Jakarta over the weekend, which
reached depths of 1.5 meters in places, reportedly killed six
people.
Hutasoit said the government and city authorities should pay
more attention to Jakarta's poor drainage system, which he named
as the main cause of last week's floods.
Last month, Jakarta was hit by floods which killed up to 10
people. But authorities said the floods "came down" from Bogor
and were not caused by rain in Jakarta.
Marwan from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction also
said the government should not hesitate to make large investments
to stop further floods.
"The government should build the Banjir Kanal Timur (Eastern
flood canal) as part of the eastern flood control system if it
has to," he added.
Radinal yesterday explained that in 1973 the city government
had planned to build the Banjir Kanal Barat (Western flood canal)
for the western flood control system and the Banjir Kanal Timur
in the east to protect the city from worse flooding.
However, the government decided to halt the Eastern canal
project on grounds of cost.
"The construction of the 28-km East canal is now too
difficult... Some Rp 1 trillion (US$436.68 million) is needed for
land appropriation alone," he said.
Radinal said the government is currently dredging the Angke,
Muara Karang, Ciliwung Gunung Sahari and Ciliwung Pasar Ikan
rivers and the Ancol drain. It is also repairing the Manggarai,
Karet, Kapitol and Pasar Ikan sluice gates.
"We have only been able to handle 25 percent of Jakarta's
flood-prone areas... This is because the city's drainage system
is a mess," he admitted to reporters.
He said up to 40 percent, or 24,000 hectares, of the city's
area are located in lowlands. Certain places in North Jakarta are
on tide level, or even up to one meter below the line. (pwn)