Poor land-use plan causes floods: Offical

Poor land-use plan causes floods: Offical

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the rainy weather sets in again, Jakartans have to live
with its impact: floods. The annual deluge has been a problem for
years and will probably still be one in the future.

Governor Sutiyoso has repeatedly cited a shortage of funds and
blamed the topographic and climatic conditions in the city for
the government's inability to tackle the problem. However, an
expert said that corrupt bureaucracy played a great role in the
devastating floods.

"Floods in Jakarta cannot be isolated from various complex
problems, especially a bad master land-use plan and its poor
implementation due to the corrupt bureaucracy in the city
administration," city and regional planning expert, Bhenyamin
Hoessen, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Bhenyamin, who is also head of the postgraduate program for
administrative affairs at the University of Indonesia, said that
many development projects in the city violated the master plan.

Many buildings and other projects constructed were not in line
with the city master plan; greenbelt areas have changed their
function and have been made into business areas; and many
factories and businesses have been built in residential areas.

"This occurred because bureaucrats have readily issued
construction permits for buildings in areas which were not in
line with the city plan as they received huge bribes," Bhenyamin
said.

Citing one example, he named the development of Pantai Indah
Kapuk (PIK) exclusive residential complex in North Jakarta, that
was believed to cause the frequent flooding at the nearby toll
road heading to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

"If public interests continue to be put aside in favor of
bureaucrats' personal interests, city problems will never be
solved."

Bhenyamin also criticized non-governmental organization'
(NGOs) activists who frequently protected people that violated
the city plan by building houses in greenbelt areas or other
prohibited areas.

"The bureaucrats, who have issued permits have violated the
city plan, and the people, who build houses in prohibited areas,
are targets for law enforcement that should be implemented
firmly."

With the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) forecasting
more heavy rains for Thursday and without contingency plans from
the administration, except rubber dinghies to evacuate flood
victims, many Jakartans have no other option but to live with the
floods.

Chairman of the City Council Commission D, responsible for
development affairs, Sayogo Hendrosubroto said a comprehensive
solution to the flood problem must be found alongside other
problems in the city.

"The deluge that affected over 100 areas in Jakarta on Monday
was due to garbage that clogged the drainage system in those
areas. Therefore, the administration must solve the problems of
garbage and flooding side by side."

Bimo Hastoro, another city councillor of Commission D, said
the administration did not give priority to flood control as it
had only allocated Rp 294 billion (US$28.27 million) in the
proposed 2002 budget. The figure is slightly higher than last
year's Rp 290 billion.

Sutiyoso has frequently claimed his administration would not
be able to resolve the flood problem in the near future due to a
shortage of finances and the fact that many areas in the capital
lay below sea level.

The administration plans to improve the 11-kilometer East
Flood Canal and build a 23-kilometer West Flood Canal to ease the
flood problem. Head of Public Works (PU) Office Suena did not
specify the total budget needed for the construction but only
said that for land acquisition, the administration would need Rp
1.2 trillion.