TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head Office of Ciliwung Cisadane River (BBWSCC) estimates that there are 129 administrative villages in Jakarta that have the potential to be flooded in the coming rainy season due to the cessation of the 13 rivers normalization program.
Head of BBWSCC Bambang Hidayah said the estimation was based on data in February last year. “The data still becomes our reference because there is no process of normalization (river). It is constrained by the land acquisition,” he said, Friday, October 5.
The rainy season in Jakarta is expected to begin in November. The peak is predicted to occur in February. According to Bambang, the potential for flooding comes from the overflowing rivers such as Angke, Pesanggrahan, Krukut, Ciliwung, West Flood Canal, Sunter, Cipinang, and Cengkareng Drain.
The river normalization is carried out by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing through BBWSCC. The land acquisition is the task of the Jakarta Water Resources Office.
The Jakarta administration has allocated funds for land acquisition for the river normalization of Rp853 billion. However, until the beginning of September, the realization of its budget absorption was only Rp400 billion.
The Secretary of the Jakarta Water Resources Service, Rodia Renaningrum, claimed to have anticipated the potential for flooding by dredging the dams in the upstream area to accommodate a lot of water during the rainy season.
The Head of the Jakarta Water Resources Service, Teguh Hendarwan, said that his agency would continue to clean and dredge the waterways. “The [flood] will recede in two to three hours at maximum,” he said.
GANGSAR PARIKESIT
