More cash needed to finance city dredging program
More cash needed to finance city dredging program
JAKARTA (JP): The dredging of the city's rivers are being
hindered by a lack of funds, according to City Public Works
Office chief Soeharto.
Soeharto said that the city administration should provide more
funds from its budget to facilitate the implementation of an
intensive dredging program as part of the municipality's program
to normalize the functioning of the city's rivers.
The Rp 2 billion (US$909,000) allocated annually by the city
administration to finance the river dredging project sufficed
only to remove garbage from the rivers, he said. To clean up the
rivers properly, Soeharto said, required a much higher level of
funding. He added that the cost of cleaning rivers was much
higher than that of cleaning areas if polluted land.
He said that each day at least 1,350 cubic meters of garbage
was thrown into the 13 rivers which flow through the city. The
public works office is able to remove about 350 cubic meters of
garbage per day and about 600 cubic meters is carried into the
sea. The remaining 400 cubic meters of garbage piles up on the
river banks.
Head of the City Environment Office Aboejoewono A. said
recently that it was time for the municipal government to
intensify the dredging of the rivers as part of its clean river
program.
Aboejoewono expressed concern over the fact that many dredging
activities were carried out manually. He urged the city
administration to provide the equipment needed to support the
dredging program.
"I know it will be expensive but it has to be done now," said,
Aboejoewono, who also called for greater awareness on the part of
the public that garbage should not be thrown into the rivers.
He urged the municipal administration to build fences along
the river banks to prevent the public from throwing garbage into
the rivers.
Soeharto agreed with Aboejoewono's suggestion. He said that
Jakartans, especially those living along river banks, had not yet
realized the effects of garbage being thrown into the rivers.
"Due to their bad habit almost all the rivers in the city are
in such bad condition that they need dredging," Soeharto said.
The Public Works Office has cooperated with the central
government to improve the state of Jakarta's 13 rivers by
dredging them and demolishing illegal houses built along the
river banks.
Jakarta's 13 rivers are the Ciliwung, the Mokevaart, the
Angke, the Pesanggrahan, the Grogol, the Cipinang, the Kali Baru,
the Sunter, the Jati Kramat, the Krukut, the Buaran, the Kramat
and the Cakung. (yns)