Sutiyoso blames residents for worsening floods

Sutiyoso blames residents for worsening floods

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Accused of mishandling the floods that swept through the city
earlier this year, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso shifted the blame on
Friday by accusing residents of worsening the flood problem by
dumping garbage into rivers.

"The rivers have narrowed because people dump their trash into
them. This has worsened the flood problem," Sutiyoso said during
a visit to the West Flood Canal gate in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

He said residents living along riverbanks dumped at least 800
cubic meters of garbage per day into the city's 13 rivers.

He said Jakarta, which produces 25,000 cubic meters of garbage
per day, would be unable to deal with the flood problem if
residents did not change their habits.

"It would be useless to spend huge amounts of money to dredge
the rivers if residents continue to dump their garbage into the
rivers. We should educate the public not to dump their trash into
the rivers," Sutiyoso said.

The administration plans to allocate Rp 13 billion to finance
flood alleviation programs, which will include dredging the
Krukut River and West Flood Canal, which crosses Jl. Sudirman in
Central Jakarta.

The money will also be used to dredge parts of the Ciliwung
River along Jl. Diponegoro as far as Kwitang, Central Jakarta,
and the Cideng River, also in Central Jakarta.

While the governor blames residents for tossing their trash
into rivers, critics point out that the administration does not
ensure proper garbage collection in many neighborhoods.

Tons of garbage recently removed from the rivers and piled
along the riverbanks has yet to be transported to the Bantar
Gebang dump.

The City Public Works Agency, which is in charge of river
dredging, blamed the City Sanitation Agency for failing to
collect the garbage. The sanitation agency said it was the public
works agency's responsibility to complete its job and take care
of the trash.

This is not the first time Sutiyoso has tried to lay blame for
the flooding on parties other than his administration. In
February, he said it was nature's fault that much of the city
found itself under water.

After the massive flooding, the administration allocated at
least Rp 225 billion in the 2002 city budget for flood prevention
programs.

However, the money was only enough to alleviate flooding in
five flood-prone areas of the city, leaving some 73 more areas to
help themselves as best they could.

According to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, the peak
of the rainy season will occur between the second half of January
and February of next year.

The administration has repeatedly said it is unable to prevent
future flooding because of a lack of money to build the East
Flood Canal, which would cost more than Rp 7 trillion to
construct.

Sutiyoso reiterated on Friday that the city's lack of funds
had halted the planned development of the East Flood Canal. And
the central government, which was expected to finance the
project, has failed to meet its commitment to the project.

"We hoped the central government could help finance the
project but, until now, it is still uncertain when they will
disburse the funds," the governor said.

Separately, the City Public Works Agency head, IGKG. Suena,
said on Friday the administration would allocate Rp 50 billion in
the 2003 budget for land appropriation for the 23-kilometer East
Flood Canal.

"Although the funds from the central government are still
uncertain, we will still allocate money for the canal," Suena
told The Jakarta Post.

Last year, the administration spent a similar amount of money
to appropriate about 20 hectares of the 230 hectares needed for
the canal.