Riverbank levels to be raised

Riverbank levels to be raised

JAKARTA (JP): The government will soon raise the levels of six riverbanks, which function as embankments in several flood-prone areas, as part of the city's flood control program.

The head of the Ciliwung-Cisadane Rivers Development Project, Siswoko, said yesterday that the riverbanks are located in Rawa Kepa in North Jakarta, Jl. Latumenten, Jati Petamburan, Jati Pinggir and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and Setiabudi Timur in South Jakarta -- all of which were submerged during the recent floods.

"With higher dikes the river water won't spill over as easily into residential areas," Siswoko said.

All of the riverbanks are currently three meters in height and will be raised 50 centimeters, he said.

The public works ministry spokesman, Bambang Utoyo, said earlier that at least Rp 250 million would be taken from the city's disaster aid reserves to fund the projects.

Floods have been drowning the capital since last week, with the worst taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

Over the past week, thousands of families have been evacuated, more than 3000 have fallen ill and at least nine people have been killed. Five have been sent to hospitals for intensive treatment.

Surjadi

Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said yesterday in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, that the recent floods in 13 areas of Jakarta were due to "human error". "The riverbank squatters are to blame for the flooding," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Jakarta has at least 80 areas that are prone to flooding.

Siswoko, however, said such natural factors as the torrential rains also triggered the disaster.

Recently, Siswoko said that the swelling rivers in Jakarta are a result of the rapid development in upstream areas, where water catchment areas are now struggling to keep water from flooding downstream.

He also said that the government plans to widen part of the Ciliwung river in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, to help prevent future inundations.

Siswoko said part of the river will be widened to 60 meters from its current width of 20 meters.

"The project will widen a 200-meter-long segment of the river in the first stage. The total length to be widened will be 800 meters," he said.

The first stage of the project is underway, he said, while the remaining 600 meters will be widened in the next fiscal year.(yns)