Regional autonomy may hinder Jakarta's action against floods
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.