Little progress made so far on E. Flood Canal

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Jakarta residents will, it appears, still have a long wait before the city can be relieved of the threat of flooding every wet season, as the administration has made little progress, thus far, on building the East Flood Canal.

"As of July 2004, East Jakarta municipality office managed to acquire only one hectare of land affected by the construction. The acquisition cost the city Rp 3.3 billion (US$370,786)," said Councillor Pantas Nainggolan on Wednesday.

"Meanwhile, the North Jakarta office has yet to acquire any land this year," he added.

Nainggolan, who is a member of City Council Commission A on legal and administration affairs, attended a hearing with deputy governor Fauzi Bowo and other officials about the revised budget proposal.

The administration proposed another Rp 453 billion to finance its unfinished projects. Some Rp 40 billion of this would be allocated to acquisition of land affected by the East Flood Canal project.

Should the expenditure be approved, the total budget for the project would stand at Rp 190 billion.

Councillors queried the lack of progress on the project. The East Jakarta administration is assigned to acquire a total area of 183 hectares, but managed only 62 hectares as of last year. Worse still, North Jakarta had acquired only 5.2 hectares of a total 78.5 hectares as of last year.

"Since the relevant municipalities have spent less than the sums allocated for land acquisition, we think it necessary to review the allocation," Nainggolan said.

Koeswadi Soesilohardjo of Commission D on development affairs expressed concern that the administration would not use the additional fund effectively.

Meanwhile, Anna Rudhiantiana of Commission C on financial affairs said that any failure to take up funds would indicate that the revised city budget was poorly planned.

Land acquisition for East Flood Canal construction hit a serious snag after residents, whose land would be affected by the project, insisted the city administration meet their compensation demands, which were higher than that offered by the administration.

The administration insists that compensation will not exceed the taxable value of property in the area, but residents have refused the offer, claiming that the compensation fund offered is below market price.

Jakarta plans to build a 23.5-kilometer canal that will stretch from Cipinang, East Jakarta, to Marunda, North Jakarta. The canal is expected to help ease flooding in the eastern part of the city.

Projected to be 100 meters wide and five meters deep, the canal will link the Cipinang, Sunter, Jati Kramat, Buaran and Cakung rivers.