Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Recent floods in Jakarta that claimed six lives should serve as a warning for the city administration to build the East Flood Canal as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the planned project has been delayed as the administration lacks the funds for land clearance for the canal.
Urban planning expert Ahmad "Puput" Safrudin said on Wednesday that if the canal construction was not possible in the near future, then the city administration must look for alternative solutions.
"If the administration wants a total or even radical solution, it must rehabilitate all mangrove forests on Jakarta's northern coast. Upmarket residences have been constructed in the area. The administration must also be stern when it clears the city's riverbanks from squatters," he said.
Puput was referring to Pantai Indah Kapuk luxury housing complex in North Jakarta, the construction of which was blamed for the floods that hit the capital in early 2002, as much of the mangrove forest in the area was cleared.
The 2002 floods claimed at least 30 lives and forced 300,000 to flee their homes. The floods also obstructed the nearby toll road connecting the city with Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, causing many airlines to cancel their flights.
The administration has planned to build the East Flood Canal to help the existing West Flood Canal control overflowing water from 13 rivers in Jakarta.
However, the project was hampered by the city's inability to pay for the clearance of 400 hectares of land for the 23.5-kilometer-long, 100-meter-wide and five-meter-deep canal stretching from Cipinang in East Jakarta to Marunda in North Jakarta.
"Until now, we have only managed to clear 5 percent of the land required for the project," said Jakarta Public Works Agency head Fodly Misbach. "That land is in Marunda, Rorotan and Cakung Timur subdistricts in North Jakarta," he added.
The canal, which was designed by the Netherlands Engineering Consultants (Nedeco) in 1973, and the West Flood Canal, built by the Dutch in 1924, are planned to form a half-circle around the city.
Fodly said the administration refers to the taxable value of property (NJOP) for land prices but residents have been demanding higher prices.
"Residents in Duren Sawit subdistrict, East Jakarta, demanded Rp 2 million (US$238) per square meter but the price according to the NJOP is only half of this," he said. The administration has allocated Rp 150 billion this year for the land clearance, which requires RP 2.47 trillion in total. Last year, it allocated Rp 100 billion. The government will provide Rp 2.527 trillion, including a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), for the construction of the project.
The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology's (BPPT) hydrologist, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, suggested the administration build "absorption dams" in water catchment areas to support the flood canal.
"Both canals would only be able to absorb up to 80 percent of the overflowing water from rivers," he said, adding that the dams would also function to preserve the city's underground water resources. The agency will work with the Office of the State Minister of Research and Technology, the University of Indonesia (UI) and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to build an absorption dam in Depok this year. If successful, the project would be acknowledged by the Ministry of Settlement and Infrastructure as a preventive measure and proposed to the administration as a possible solution to flooding as well.