Students Disappointed with Dedi Mulyadi's Response to Bekasi Flooding, Pointing to Instagram Content
BEKASI — The Chairperson of the Student Executive Council (BEM) of the Faculty of Law at Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya University, Rafi Priyatna, expressed disappointment with West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi’s response to a student protest during the celebration of Bekasi City’s 29th anniversary at the Bekasi City Regional Representative Council (DPRD) Building on Tuesday, 10 March 2026.
Rafi believed that Mulyadi’s response failed to address the issues raised by students in their demonstration. “He immediately left the protest crowd. However, he directly disseminated content which, in our view, misframed what we were doing,” Rafi said when contacted by Kompas.com on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.
Rafi explained that in the demonstration, students presented several criticisms of Bekasi City Government policies, particularly regarding flood management. He also highlighted the construction of polders in several districts, which had previously been promoted as one solution to flood mitigation.
However, he noted that flooding still occurred massively in several areas, including regions near these facilities. Students also demanded the normalisation of river flow, which they argued remained uneven across Bekasi City. Rafi mentioned that several commercial buildings still stood on riverbanks and were believed to obstruct water flow.
“Today we still found several points where commercial buildings remain standing and obstruct the river flow,” he said.
Additionally, students questioned the performance of Bekasi City Regional Representative Council members regarding capital injections to several local state-owned enterprises (BUMD). Rafi stated that the value of these capital injections reached approximately 48 billion rupiahs and allegedly lacked the basis of local regulations (Perda), as recorded in the State Audit Board (BPK) audit results for 2024.
“In this case, we also see violations of general principles of good governance that could give rise to suspicions of massive corruption in Bekasi City,” he said.
Rafi stated that students had attempted to convey several demands directly to Dedi Mulyadi. However, the conversation was said to have lasted only briefly before the governor left the location. “He simply stated that ‘yes, it will be followed up’. Of course, as protest participants, we are disappointed,” Rafi said.
He added that students were not actually aware that Dedi Mulyadi was attending the plenary session.