Jakarta Water Resource Agency Talks of Potential Jakarta Sinking

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Water Resource Agency Head Yusmada Faizal confirmed the threat that the capital city has the potential to sink given the fact that some of the coastal areas are already below sea level.

“It shows that the threat exists because parts of Jakarta areas are already below sea level,” said Yusmada during an online discussion on 'Jakarta the Sinking City' on Thursday, September 2.

Issues about the Jakarta sinking emerged again after the US President Joe Biden warned that Indonesia’s capital was in danger of sinking in the next 10 years.

Yusmada explained the position of several coastal areas was indeed low if referring to the macro system of the flood control master plan. As a result, rainwater or water from upstream coming to Jakarta could not be directly channeled into the sea.

Water from upstream, he continued, must be channeled to the reservoir first and then pumped into the sea through the West Flood Canal and East Flood Canal. “This shows that Jakarta cannot fully channel water by gravity,” he explained. “It can't be normal anymore.”

On the basis, Yusmada went on, the Jakarta government needs to maximize the flow of water through the polder system, an effort to control flooding by building regional drainage, retention ponds, embankments, as well as water pumps and sluice gates.

Read: Joe Biden's Remark on Jakarta Sinking; Megawati Asks Jokowi to Seek Solutions

LANI DIANA WIJAYA