Ministry of Public Works Explains Reasons for Granting Permission to Divert Ciputat River to Bintaro XChange Developers

South Tangerang, Kompas.com – The Ministry of Public Works (PU) has revealed the reasons for granting permission to divert the Ciputat and Cibenda rivers to the developers of the Bintaro XChange area in South Tangerang since 2011.

Deputy Minister of PU, Diana Kusumastuti, stated that the permission was given on the condition that a replacement river be built with a minimum capacity equal to or greater than the original to avoid triggering floods in the surrounding areas.

“The diversion permission was issued on the condition that there is a replacement river with dimensions and capacity at least equal to or greater. Thus, the river diversion process does not cause flooding in the area,” said Diana when contacted by Kompas.com via text message on Thursday (7/5/2026).

Based on the decision document, the diversion of the Ciputat River channel was carried out as part of river normalisation, considering river channel protection and the results of technical team trials.

The document states that the implementation of the channel diversion and the construction of river infrastructure from the old flow to the new one has been declared to function well by the technical team.

“The diverted river is one of the branches of the same river,” said Diana.

The diversion was also said to support the development of the housing area in Bintaro.

“The Secondary Irrigation Channel was closed and diverted using a box culvert by straightening and redirecting the flow to the Ciputat River,” said Diana.

In the decision, PT Jaya Real Property Tbk is required to provide compensation in the form of former river land measuring 21,966 cubic metres, exchanged for replacement land measuring 35,980 cubic metres along with complementary buildings to the Ministry of Public Works.

That land and buildings are then designated as State-Owned Goods (BMN). In addition, the company is required to certify the replacement river land in the name of the Republic of Indonesia Government, in this case the Ministry of Public Works, with all costs borne by the developer.

Nevertheless, Diana revealed that to date, the replacement river assets have not fully been transferred to state ownership.

“The ownership status of the diverted replacement river assets has not yet changed ownership; it is still owned by Jaya Real. Currently, they have been warned to fulfil or complete their obligations,” said Diana.