Regional autonomy may hinder Jakarta's action against floods

Bambang Nurbianto and Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration is unable to make comprehensive decisions to handle the flood problems alone because the main rivers in the city originate in the hills of West Java province, and the areas which are meant to be buffer zones for the city also lie outside of Jakarta's jurisdiction.

One of the shortcomings of the Autonomy Law was that there was no central control over issues that affect multiple regencies and provinces, so a comprehensive solution for the floods could be difficult to achieve, a minister said on Wednesday.

"Each separate administration has its own interests which could hinder efforts to solve flooding in Jakarta," Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Minister Soenarno told a seminar which was focused on flood problems in the capital.

Apart from the poor environmental management in Jakarta, flooding in the capital is also worsened by the destruction of catchment areas in West Java, particularly in Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur.

Director of Water Resources at the ministry, Basuki Hadimulyono, revealed the difficulties in trying to synchronize the interests of each administration.

Basuki gave an example of the Cianjur administration, which had received around Rp 2 billion last year for issuing building permits (IMB), therefore, due to greed, the effort to curb new construction in the region often ends in failure.

"Cianjur does not want to lose a cash cow for the interests of Jakarta, so Jakarta may be required to pay compensation to Cianjur if they want assistance," he suggested.

In trying to resolve the problem, Soenarno said that the central government was now trying to reintroduce the concept of "one river, one plan", involving certain institutions of the related administrations.

The designation of Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur - known as Bopunjur - as a catchment area for Jakarta was first proposed by president Soekarno with the issuance of a decree in 1963.

The decree was revised several times, but it still maintained the function of Bopunjur to protect Jakarta from floods.

But beginning in the 1980s, developers started to erect many new buildings in those areas which caused serious environmental damage and exacerbated flooding.

As a result, the newly developed areas could no longer contain the water during the rainy season, water which eventually flows to Jakarta via the Ciliwung and Pasanggrahan rivers.

Separately, Laode Ida from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, shared Soenarno's opinion, saying that the integrated efforts by the related administrations is badly needed.

But, he added, it should not only involve the Bogor and Cianjur administrations, but also Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

"We also appealed to the government to restore the catchment areas and buffer zones in those cities. This means that we have to take some radical steps and destroy large numbers of housing compounds and buildings", said Laode.