Radinal angry over Ancol bridge design

Radinal angry over Ancol bridge design

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar is
angry about the building of a bridge in Ancol which obstructs the
Ancol River's flow.

The bridge is in front of Ancol Dreamland's entrance in North
Jakarta. Radinal and his staff inspected it Thursday to check
preparations for the expected floods.

"Why are they obstructing the river flow while we're busy
widening the rivers?" Radinal was quoted by Antara as asking.

The report said the bridge was built by construction company
PT Satria Fajar.

The bridge belongs to city-owned construction company PT
Pembangunan Jaya and Ciputra Group, which manages the Ancol
Dreamland.

Radinal said he did not know who issued the construction
permit for the bridge. He said he would ask Governor Surjadi
Soedirdja to explain.

"I'm not forbidding anybody from building a bridge, but the
river flow should not be obstructed," Radinal said.

He said the bridge's foundation structures should be on both
sides of the river's banks instead of in the river.

Present at the inspection were the ministry's Director General
of Water Resources Development, Soeparmono, Director General of
Highways Soeharsono Martakim, Director General of Human
Settlement Rachmadi BS and Secretary General Ruslan Diwiryo.

Radinal was also angry at Dreamland's management for dumping
waste into the Ancol River.

"Why don't they build a sewerage system straight to the sea?"
he asked. He said such disposal methods were not ethical.

"They have the money, so why create a burden for the
government?" he asked.

The waste would decrease the river's capacity and make the
flood control pump less effective. The pump was built by the
ministry to prevent floods in the surrounding Sunter, Pademangan,
Gunung Sahari and Mangga Dua areas.

Yesterday, Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, the city's assistant
secretary for economic and development affairs, said the bridge
in front of the Ancol Dreamland was temporary.

The bridge was built in 1974 and was no longer appropriate for
public traffic and would be replaced, he said.

Prawoto said the city decided to raise the bridge's foundation
but the structures were left in their original place.

"We are repairing the bridge by raising its foundation to
prepare for the coming New Year when people will be crowding into
Ancol," Prawoto said.

If the bridge collapsed during New Year celebrations many
people would get angry, he said.

"Next year, the bridge will be demolished," Prawoto said.

The new bridges's foundation would be built next to the old
one, he said.

The new bridge would not obstruct the river's flow, he said.

The new bridge would link Ancol to Jl. Gunung Sahari, Prawoto
said.

The city public works office has spent Rp 15 billion (US$6.52
million) dredging the city's twelve rivers, including the Ancol
River, since September.

These are efforts to curb the annual floods when the wet
season reaches its peak.

Dredging rivers, which is one way to increase river capacity
without acquiring more land, is expected to prevent the severe
flooding Jakarta suffered last January and February.

The administration is also increasing the height of flood
canal walls and fixing water pumps.

The National Development Planning Board has earmarked about Rp
12 billion from the 1996/1997 budget for greater Jakarta flood
control projects. (ste)