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)