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)