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)