SKEPHI preparing program to save city's ponds

SKEPHI preparing program to save city's ponds

JAKARTA (JP): The non-governmental organization Network for
Forest Conservation in Indonesia (SKEPHI) is preparing a program
calling on people to stop spoiling natural water ponds in Jakarta
and surrounding areas.

Head of SKEPHI Indro Tjahjono told The Jakarta Post yesterday
that the research conducted three years ago on the condition of
ponds in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi detected a 30
percent decrease in the quality and quantity of ponds since 1985.
It was mainly due to local people's negligence.

"Many ponds have started to silt up due to the large
quantities of garbage dumped and mud deposits as well as housing
construction," Indro said.

According to Indro, it is the residents of the localities who
are to blame. "They fill the land with garbage so that houses can
be built on it after a suitable period of time," he said.

Indro said that as most of the ponds are located in strategic
areas, business considerations have a greater say in the matter
than their own personal well-being.

"People are unaware that the existence of the ponds is crucial
both for water catchment and for the prevention of salt water
intrusion, which is important to retain good quality drinking
water," he said.

The SKEPHI project will be aimed at giving local authorities
information about the importance of preserving ponds by
prohibiting people from dumping garbage or any other materials to
fill up the land in water catchment areas.

Citing examples, he pointed to the shrinking size of ponds in
the Sunter area in North Jakarta, the Blora area in Central
Jakarta, and Barito in West Jakarta.

He said that within ten years only about 1,000 of the former
6,000 square meters of pond will be left in the Sunter area due
to land fills.

According to data from the city administration and the Public
Works office only 17 out of 46 ponds, amounting to 400 hectares
in surface area, still exist in Tangerang, some 30 km West of the
city center. Indro believes that these figures are exaggerated.

At present there are 122 ponds in Bogor with a surface of 561
hectares. The twelve ponds in the Bekasi area have a total
surface of 157 hectares.

Indro said that after a period the ponds' decreased water
absorbing function will result in the land sinking because of the
lack of water in the layers underneath.

"The Sediatmo Road to Cengkareng International Airport is an
example," he said.

As the swamps along the road were filled, the lack of
groundwater underneath has made the road sink seven to 25
centimeters, he said.

"The theory also applies to high-rise buildings, especially
those without strong foundations," he said.

Jakarta reportedly has fewer than 10 ponds, each of which has
been reduced to about 1,000 meters in diameter due to
unauthorized dumping.

Floods in the city have prompted the authorities and
developers to build man-made ponds.

"But they have not been able to replace the lost natural ones,
which had a much greater ability to absorb water," Indro
said.(03)