TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Muslim Muin, marine engineering expert with the Bandung Institute of Technology, said that the Jakarta Bay reclamation project would cause severe floods as no barrier would prevent sea water from entering the land.

Muin added that sea water would also penetrate canals of the project and worsen the flood. Muin suggested that building levees would be sufficient to address the flooding issue, instead of developing a reclamation project.

"Building and reinforcing levees in the coastal areas should be enough," Muin said at the National Commission for Human Rights office on Tuesday, October 25, 2016.

According to Muin, the rise in the sea water level in Jakarta was not caused by the flux and reflux of the tides. Muin added that the reclamation project could hamper water flow from 13 rivers to the Jakarta Bay. As a result, estuaries and canals between 17 islets would be shallow, and the water level of the 13 rivers would significantly rise.

The Jakarta administration has insisted to continue the reclamation project, claiming that it is a way to cleanse water in the Jakarta Bay. However, Muin claimed that the reclamation project would increase the amount of pollutant in the water. Muin suggested that the Jakarta administration should provide a water management facility for Jakarta.

"The water should be separated from pollutants, if they want to see a clean Jakarta Bay," Muin said.

DANANG FIRMANTO