Marunda Canal Flow Disrupted, Housing Agency Claims Backfilling Did Not Reach Watercourse
The Jakarta People’s Housing and Settlement Area Agency (DPRKP) claims that the backfilling point for the Marunda Flats project in Cilincing, North Jakarta, did not reach the flow of the Anakan Blencong canal, which is now covered by mud deposits blocking its flow.
This was explained by Akbar Rizali, Head of the Housing Provision Sub-Group of the Jakarta Housing Agency.
“For the soil backfilling elevation process for the flats, it does not reach the canal flow point,” he said when contacted by Kompas.com via WhatsApp message on Monday (11/5/2026).
“The retaining wall or soil-retaining structure is built simultaneously with the soil backfilling,” he added.
Regarding the canal blockage, he explained that the mud covering the flow came from pre-existing sedimentation.
“So, the existing mud sediment in that canal rose because it was displaced by our soil compaction,” he stated.
Akbar revealed that his side has coordinated with affected residents in the Marunda sub-district, as well as the North Jakarta Water Resources Sub-District Office, regarding the water channel conditions around the project site.
Previously reported, residents of Marunda, Cilincing, North Jakarta, expressed confusion upon seeing the Marunda Flats project backfilling increasingly approaching the Anakan Blencong canal flow, covering part of the flow near the Jalan Rumah Si Pitung bridge.
RT 1/RW 07 Chairman Arizal said that neither residents nor RT officials ever received specific socialisation regarding the backfilling near the canal and bridge area.
He himself only realised the backfilling area was increasingly approaching the canal flow when passing the project site daily.
“But when I go to work in the morning, passing by, ‘Why is it this close?’ like that, walking. The next day passing by again, ‘This close?’ well, it’s getting closer and closer,” he said.
“Well, we didn’t even know it was backfilled up to there,” he added when met by Kompas.com on Monday.
According to him, the blockage near the bridge only occurred in the last few weeks.
“The position of the blockage, yeah, it’s only in the last few weeks. Yes, roughly around two weeks,” he said.