Heru Budi: Jakarta Can't Be Avoided From Floods Due To Land Decrease

Acting Governor Heru Budi inspects the dredging of the Ciliwung River at two points in Jakarta, Friday, November 10. (Diah-VOI)

JAKARTA - Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono admitted that DKI Jakarta Province will not be free from flooding. Although, the government has made various efforts to control the impact of flooding.

One of the factors that causes the Jakarta area to often flood is the land surface which continues to decline.

This was revealed by Heru after reviewing the dredging of the Ciliwung River in the flow in Kebon Baru Village, Tebet, South Jakarta and Bidara Cina Village, Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

"Yes, hopefully it will decrease, even though there are several locations that are prone to flooding. Hopefully the inundation will recede quickly. Jakarta cannot avoid flooding because land subsidence continues to fall. Try to open it in the data, keep going down," said Heru, Friday, November 10.

On the other hand, the rainfall that hit Jakarta when it entered the rainy season was classified as extreme, which was above 100 millimeters (mm) per day. Not to mention, water shipments from the buffer zone are also the cause of Jakarta's flooding.

Heru gave an example, on Sunday, November 5, there was heavy rain with high intensity in the Jabodetabek area. Rain fell with very heavy to extreme intensity in Jagorawi Bogor of 156 mm, Depok 1 of 148 mm, Pasar Minggu of 126 mm, and at the Katulampa Dam of 111 mm.

"You can (send water) from Depok, from Bogor. Rainfall, which is usually 100 mm on average, yesterday there was 117 mm, the amount of rain with higher rainfall," said Heru.

Thus, Heru said that the DKI Provincial Government is intensifying the handling of the impact of flooding when entering the rainy season towards the end of the year. Heru also instructed all levels of the DKI Provincial Government to dredging rivers until next week.

"The DKI Regional Government through the Natural Resources Service conducts dredging flowers. So, we will continue to dredge up the revitalization times. Next week we will carry out all community service throughout Jakarta," he said.

Heru said that this dredging would be carried out by PJLP such as public infrastructure and facilities (PPSU) officers to state civil servants (ASN).

"We lower all heavy equipment so that we can anticipate flooding," Heru continued.

Since last month, the DKI Jakarta Water Resources Service (SDA) has dredged rivers at a number of points. In total, 240 heavy equipment have been deployed to dredge mud in the river.

"Earlier, the Head of SDA said that today at all moving points. There are 240 heavy equipment, all of which have dropped to the river so that they can anticipate flooding," he concluded.