Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the cover on the Sentiong River, also known as Kali Item or "Black River", in Central Jakarta is a back-up plan that is expected to reduce the pungent smell and cover the dirty river.

The administration, he said, was still trying to clean the river ahead of the 2018 Asian Games that will begin on Aug. 18. An athletes village is located near the river.

"The back-up plan uses the net while we keep trying to clean the river," he said as quoted by kompas.com. "So if we fail to clean it [by the time the Asian Games starts], we have it as a contingency plan. Just to be safe."

Anies claimed that the river's condition was better than a few months earlier. The administration has been criticized for covering the river. People accused officials of trying to hide the river instead of cleaning it.

It has also cleaned another two nearby reservoirs in Sunter, which are also close to the athletes village.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/07/21/black-river-cover-is-a-back-up-plan-anies-says.html