July 05, 2010 23:12 PM
Jakarta Residents To Continue Facing Flood Problem
JAKARTA, July 5 (Bernama) -- Jakarta residents will continue to be plagued by the flood problem as 40 per cent of the city area near the Java Sea is below sea level.
Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo, who promised that Jakarta would be free from flooding during the governors' elections three years ago, is resigned to the fact that the problem cannot be solved altogether and is instead targeting to reduce it by 40 per cent by 2011 and 75 per cent by 2016.
Jakarta, the world's third most polluted city, is surrounded by 13 rivers and has several areas which are densely populated and flood-prone.
The big flood, when it came every five years, had inundated the city's main government administrative area and major commercial centres like in Jalan Thamrin right up to where the Presidential Palace is located.
Fauzi Bowo said the flood management programme was a priority in the Jakarta Middle-Term Development Plan, with the flood mitigation projects costing Rp22 trillion jointly funded by the central and provincial governments.
When launching the white paper on the flood management programme for Jakarta, Fauzi Bowo outlined several factors which contributed to the flood problem such as heavy rain, rise in sea level and climate change, as well as development in the Bogor highlands nearby.
He said to overcome the problem, the city government built a horseshoe-shaped water channel around Jakarta and flowing towards the sea. The project comprises the West Flood Canal, which is completed, and the East Flood Canal, which is under construction.
Besides that, dredging out of silt and mud from rivers is also being carried out. This has not been done in the last 30 years.
"Infrastructure projects alone are not enough to prevent flooding as the effort must be comprehensive, including a change in the people's attitude and habits," said Fauzi Bowo.
"During the big flood in 2007, the government had to spend a lot of money, time and effort to collect 15 truckloads of garbage from Ciliwung River in the Kalibata area and 90 truckloads from the river in the Manggarai district alone."
Jakarta has a population of 8.5 million with an annual population growth rate of 1.06 per cent.
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