South Jakarta Flood Management Requires Long-Term Planning
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Yuke Yurike, chair of Commission D of the Jakarta Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), said flood management along the Poncol section of the Mampang River in Kuningan Barat, South Jakarta, requires long-term planning because the area is low-lying.
“The area is frequently flooded because its geography is basin-shaped and low, while dense housing along the riverbanks poses an obstacle to the normalisation process,” Yuke said in Jakarta on Thursday.
She said densely packed settlements surrounded by high-rise buildings and business centres have limited access, making it difficult to move heavy machinery in for river dredging.
As a result, normalisation can only be carried out at certain accessible points, and flood management in the area cannot be completed quickly.
“This remains a long-term challenge. Hopefully, the measures already taken will reduce flooding, but it seems unlikely that the problem can be resolved in the short term,” Yuke said.
She said flood management also needed to address the upstream area, including through the construction of water-retention facilities such as the Kebagusan retention basin.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician proposed reorganising riverside settlements and providing suitable housing for affected residents. Such measures would create space for river normalisation and the construction of larger water-retention facilities, tailored to local needs and conditions.
She said her party supported the Jakarta provincial government’s efforts to tackle flooding through coordination and careful planning. However, a target date for completing normalisation in the area could not yet be confirmed because of the various obstacles involved.
“With good coordination and careful planning, we are confident that this flooding problem can be resolved gradually,” she said.
Earlier, Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung inspected normalisation work along the Poncol section of the Mampang River to reduce the risk and volume of flooding ahead of the rainy season in late November.
The work, involving the Jakarta Water Resources Agency (SDA) and the Jakarta DPRD, also covers several other rivers, including the Ciliwung and Krukut. The efforts are accompanied by plans to reorganise settlements and comprehensively improve road infrastructure.