Major river dredging to start in Central Java next year

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purwokerto

In a bid to control flooding which has ravaged many regencies in the southern part of Central Java, the administration plans clean up three big rivers, the Serayu, Bogowonto and Citanduy.

The head of the provincial office for water resources management, Nidhom Ashari said here on Thursday that the project would include dredging, widening and straightening some parts of the rivers.

"The sedimentation in the three rivers is excessive. The last dredging was conducted about 50 years ago. Some parts of the rivers need to be enlarged and straightened. This will need more land, which we will have to acquire from locals' property," he said.

The project, scheduled to start next year and to be completed in 2005, will cost around Rp 350 billion, according to Nidhom.

"Seventy percent of the cost will be covered by a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the rest will come from the central government and regional funds," Nidhom said.

"ADB has agreed to provide the funds. Some 30 percent of the loan could be cashed at any time."

"Land acquisition is included in the total cost," he said.

The project will involve the regencies of Purworejo, Kebumen, Wonosobo, Banyumas, Cilacap and Purbalingga (all in Central Java), and Ciamis in West Java, where the Citanduy river flows.

Last month huge floods hit the regencies of Banyumas, Cilacap and Kebumen, destroying hundreds of houses and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes.

Deforestation and rampant illegal logging have been blamed for the disaster.

Nidhom said on Thursday that the forestry office should work hard to take necessary actions to prevent illegal logging and deforestation.

"We planned the river cleanup project in 1998. The plan was put on hold as the economic crisis started to sweep the country," he said.

"Now that we all have felt the burden of the recent floods in the three regencies, we realize that the river cleanup project can no longer be delayed," he said, referring to the meeting among some regents and other officials dealing with water resources and environment management. The meeting took place in Banyumas on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Central Java Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has predicted that rainfall in Central Java will be very high in January.

The agency has urged local administrations to take preventive actions to minimize possible damage in case floods hit the vulnerable regencies next year.

According to Nidhom, the dikes destroyed by recent floods must be repaired as an urgent emergency measure.