Putri Prameshwari – At least six of the 193 dams located in the Greater Jakarta area are in similar condition to the now-collapsed Situ Gintung dam, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, or Walhi, said on Sunday.

However, Berry Furqan, chairman of Walhi, said that the Situ Gintung dam was unique in that it was elevated and there was a residential area located below the water level. "There are six other dams in a similar condition," Furqan said. "But Situ Gintung has the worst setup."

JanJaap Brinkman, team leader of a flood hazard mapping project under the Ministry of Public Works, said the water level at most of the reservoirs around Jakarta were at the same level as the surrounding areas. "The residential areas near these reservoirs are not below the water level," he said

Budi Widiantoro, the head of Jakarta's Public Works Agency, said the city administration maintained its dams by regularly carrying out dredging activities. "We conduct regular maintenance on the dams located within the city," he said.

He was quick to add that Situ Gintung was not handed by his agency because it was located in Banten Province.

However, Furqan said that 70 percent of the 193 dams were not well-maintained, saying the government should regularly inspect the condition of all the dams in the capital and its suburbs. "For instance, they can calculate how much rain will fall on a certain period to determine whether there is a possibility that a dam could exceed its capacity," Furqan said.

He also said that local governments should learn from the Situ Gintung tragedy and ensure that early warning systems were in place around every dam to prevent a repeat of the disaster. "People living near a dam should be prepared at any time, should it burst," he said.

Situ Gintung is located in Banten's Cirendeu area, just a few kilometers outside Jakarta. It was constructed by the Dutch colonial administration between 1930 and 1933 to accommodate water from tributary rivers and rainwater from nearby areas.

The dam was originally built with a flood gate, but the area is now a residential area.