Pulomas dam critical

Pulomas dam critical

From Kompas

The condition of the Pulomas dam, East Jakarta, is causing great concern to residents of the area, especially those living close to the weir.

One Saturday evening, the rain was moderate and brief. It was followed by drizzle until the next morning. The drainage network leading to the dam was flooded, as were the streets. In the 20 years that I have lived in the area, I never experienced such a pitiable situation, except in the year when a flood took on Noachian proportions.

There seems to be an immense quantity of mud at the bottom of the drains and the reservoir itself. With very heavy rains, the situation could quickly turn into a disaster for the inhabitants. The related public works agencies should look into the matter.

In 1990, the dam was planned to be widened in anticipation of development of the area.

The maintenance work now only involves a number of people who do not collect the mud but just shove it around in an effort to hide it from the eyes of the beholder. The river to the reservoir has lost half of its width due to silt and mud.

Dam reservoirs in Central, West and North Jakarta are dredged with heavy equipment. Why is the one at Pulomas overlooked? If there is no budget, I am convinced that the 450 families living in the area would not object to contributing to the financing of heavy equipment and truck hire, drivers' and operators' hire, including meals and fuel costs.

There are also the big national and international companies in the area which could participate in defraying the cost for keeping the area free of floods.

Y. HARYONO

Jakarta