TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the city administration planned to build more retention ponds in a bid to control the water discharge from the upstream flowing to the capital city.

“In a meeting three years ago, Pak Bima Arya [Bogor Mayor] also saw the importance of retention ponds that we will build more later,” said Anies in the City Hall, Monday, April 29.

Anies explained the construction of retention ponds was necessary to control the water discharge entering the coastal areas. According to him, floods that occurred several days ago in Jakarta’s coastal aread were caused by water overflow.

The condition, Anies added, made people think that floods only hit Jakarta, while in fact, many regions were inundated by water, too. “The fact is, floods hit Bekasi, South Tangerang, and Tangerang because all of us are situated a coastal region,” the governor noted.

Read: Anies Baswedan: Floods in Jakarta Come from River in Bogor

Anies further asserted the importance of flood mitigation in the upstream areas considering the rain that poured there and flowed to the capital city. “The Jakarta city administration will synergize with the regional administrations there,” he said.

Jakarta Water Resource Agency is currently looking for new places to build a dam and aretention pond in tandem with the Bogor and Depok administrations. “And I appreciate Bogor Mayor for our joint programs that are running very well,” Anies Baswedan said.

ANTARA