TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Deputy Governor Ahmad Riza Patria confirmed that the provincial administration would keep implementing the river normalization program in an effort to anticipate flooding in the capital city.

“[The river] normalization keeps going. The provincial government is tasked to carry out the land acquisition. We have allocated a budget of Rp5 trillion for land acquisition and will continue to coordinate with various stakeholders,” said Riza in Jakarta, Sunday, March 7, 2021.

The large fund, he added, was budgeted for the normalization program until 2024 and would be used only for land acquisition in the Ciliwung River, not other rivers.

The budget, apart from those for flood management mentioned by Riza, had never been less than Rp2 trillion every year. “That means, it is more than 20 percent of the capital city’s expenditure,” he said.

However, Riza previously asserted that the city administration still needed support other than from the central government, including the House of Representatives (DPR) in handling floods.

“We continue to coordinate with the Public Works and Housing Ministry, the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BWSCC), and the DPR Commission V for support and budget strengthening for flood mitigation in Jakarta, including for the construction of reservoirs,” said Riza on Saturday, March 6, when asked about the city's river normalization program.

Read: Jakarta Scraps River Normalization Project

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