Officials evade onus for toll road flood
Officials evade onus for toll road flood
Bambang Nurbianto and Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Puncak
Government officials have been trying to wash hands of the
flooding that submerged parts of the Prof. Sedyatmo toll road
leading to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport earlier this
week by attributing the incident to nature and other causes.
Resettlement and Infrastructure Minister Soenarno on Wednesday
laid the blame on the developers of Pantai Indah Kapuk, a luxury
housing complex which, he said, failed to meet their pledge to
construct a reservoir system.
"The developer promised in its agreement with the Jakarta
administration to construct a reservoir to pump out any water
that might flood the toll road," said Soenarno while surveying
the damage Tuesday night.
He added that flooding on the toll road could not be fully
solved before the drainage system being constructed by toll road
operator PT Jasa Marga is finished in 2003. In the long term, the
toll road will also be increased by up to 1.5 meters.
When inspecting the toll road section Tuesday afternoon,
Governor Sutiyoso claimed PT Jasa Marga must be held responsible
for the flooding and, in response, increase the road surface.
Head of Jakarta Public Works Agency, IGK Suena, meanwhile,
pointed the finger at mother nature, saying the incident was due
to five-year-cycle leading to a heavy rainfall. He said a high
tide also caused the increase of the sea level.
The two-day deluge on Monday and Tuesday had flooded the toll
road under a full meter of water, halting around 100,000 people
heading to and from the airport. The incident caused the delay of
10 local and international flights.
As far back as 1992, experts had predicted that developing
Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex would cause the level of the
toll road to drop. The forecast proved accurate last year when
the road's surface sank by about 90 centimeters.
Before the Rp 6 trillion (US$577 million) housing complex was
built in early 1990s, environmental activists had warned the
government not to issue permits for the development. They
projected negative environmental impacts.
But government agencies ignored the warnings, and issued
permits for the project to go forward.
A permit to convert a mangrove forest into housing was issued
by former forest minister Hasjrul Harahap, while a permit for
project development was issued by former Jakarta governor Wiyogo
Atmodarminto.
However, head of the Jakarta City Environmental Agency,
Kosasih Wirahadikusumah, defended the developing company --
jointly owned by tycoons Ciputra and Sudono Salim, close cronies
of former president Soeharto.
Kosasih said previous research had asserted any cause of
flooding would not lie with the housing complex.
"The complex is in the north part of the toll road, while the
water came from the south part of the road after the residents
broke the dike," he said, the development of the housing complex,
he added, had passed careful survey.
One well-placed source, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said executives of the developer of the Pantai Indah Kapuk
housing complex had met with officials of the City Public Works
Agency to discuss the problems.
The meeting, said the source, ended with a dinner at a
restaurant near Millennium Hotel, Central Jakarta. Suena
confirmed the meeting took place, but stressed that no deal was
agreed upon there.