Proper planning, funding needed to handle floods

Proper planning, funding needed to handle floods

JAKARTA (JP): Floods will remain a headache as long as the government lacks the coordination and financial support to solve the worsening problem, State Minister for Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja warned yesterday.

Most of the 13 rivers that empty into Jakarta Bay originate from the Puncak area, a popular holiday resort in the regencies of Bogor and Cianjur.

Sarwono suggested that relevant officials in the areas find integrated ways to control the seasonal floods that have often wrought havoc in Jakarta -- a low-lying area with a population of about 10 million people.

"Proper spatial planning is one aspect that requires serious attention," he said at a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission X on the environment.

Floods in various areas, particularly Jakarta, were among the hottest topics at the meeting chaired by House member Muhamad Muas from the ruling political party, Golkar.

Jakartans saw the biggest flooding in many years a fortnight ago when major rivers overflowed, forcing thousands of families to flee their inundated homes. The natural disasters that caused a loss of several billion rupiah also triggered horrendous traffic problems for a couple of days.

Sarwono said the fast growing population hampers efforts to control flooding in the city. The current population density of Jakarta is 16,000 people per square kilometer and that of neighboring Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi is 1,800 per square kilometer.

The population pressure has had numerous consequences, such as encroachment on river banks and garbage dumping that speeds up sedimentation, he said.

Among government officials, he said, there is a common misperception that river management is the sole responsibility of the public works ministry.

"In fact the various related ministries can link up and design an integrated approach to managing the rivers," he said.

Seen from a global perspective, he added, the flooding in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia is a result of global warming due to the depletion of the ozone layer.

The increased warming near the earth's surface, referred to as the "greenhouse effect", because the earth's atmosphere traps the sun's rays, has contributed to the global climate change.

Aca Sugandhi, Sarwono's assistant in charge of policies, said that global warming has raised sea levels because it caused the ice at the poles to melt. Low-lying coastal areas, like Jakarta, are in danger if the sea levels rise significantly, he said. (pan)