'One authority should control city rivers'

JAKARTA (JP): Floods could be prevented effectively only by a single authority supervising river basins, speakers at a discussion on floods said yesterday.

Head of the City Public Works Office Soeharto said at the discussion the authority should at least be responsible for the main rivers flowing through Jakarta and other areas in West Java, in particular the Citarum, Ciliwung and Cisadane rivers.

The discussion was held by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology's (BPPT) settlement and environmental health division.

A single authority would enable better control of activities along river banks and in river basin areas, he said.

Such an authority would also enable better protection of Jakarta's increasingly scarce water because consumers would have to buy water so would use less.

An exemplary model of such an authority is the state-owned Perum Jasa Tirta which manages the Brantas River in East Java, Soeharto said.

Jasa Tirta sells water to all bodies which need it including industry.

An executive of the National Research Council under the State Ministry of Research and Technology, Jacub Rais, said the idea was not new.

The idea of a "watershed authority" for all river basins was raised in the late 1970s by a high-ranking National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) official, Jacub said.

But the idea "was gradually lost to administrative divisions" leading to "chaotic" West Java river basin conditions, he said.

The discussion included a presentation by a remote sensing specialist, Gatot Hendrarto, who used satellite pictures to show the effects of uncontrolled housing growth in West Java's river basins.

Gatot cited an earlier statement by the Director General for Water Resources Development, Soeparmono, who said more attention must be directed to the middle part of Ciliwung's river basin.

This area, Soeparmono had said, is responsible for a larger potential run-off than the upper part of the river located in the Puncak mountain resort area.

Gatot said the worst affected areas caused by human activities included the middle part of Depok.

A source at the city's public works agency cited many separate authorities which presently had to be involved in improving river conditions.

Efforts to control construction in river basin areas must deal with regional administrations who issue permits for developers. Tackling pollution by industries along rivers involves the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and problems related to conservation areas come under the Ministry of Forestry, the source said.

State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja has also called for integrated management of Ciliwung's river basin. (anr)