Indonesian Audit Watch: Jakarta Flood Handling Budget Not in Line with Reality on the Ground
JAKARTA - Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) urges the Financial Audit Agency (BPK) to conduct a special thematic audit on the procurement of DKI Jakarta water pumps which are considered never to have been thoroughly examined in the last decade.
IAW Founding Secretary Iskandar Sitorus said that the scale of the budget disbursed was very large but was not accompanied by adequate accountability. Iskandar estimated that Jakarta had poured more than Rp. 20 trillion in the last decade for water and flood affairs.
"As long as the contract documents are still kept tightly and the public is only told that everything is fine, the questions will never stop," said Iskandar, Friday, February 19, 2026.
Iskandar explained, in the 2025 APBD, the allocation for the management and development program of drainage systems and water resources (SDA) reached Rp. 4.3 trillion. Of that amount, around Rp. 704 billion is specifically for the operation and maintenance of pump stations.
For 2026, continued Iskandar, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has budgeted Rp. 3.64 trillion for flood control, plus a multi-year project worth Rp. 2.62 trillion which includes the addition of 63 new pumps.
The amount of the budget, continued Iskandar, is considered not proportional to the conditions on the ground. In July 2025, a major flood still submerged 109 neighborhood units in 15 villages and forced 856 residents to evacuate. In that incident, ten water pumps owned by the Jakarta Provincial Government were burned while operating due to overload.
Hundreds of Different Pump Brands
IAW also highlighted the complexity of Jakarta's water pump inventory, which consists of hundreds of units with different brands and countries of origin. Based on data from the Water Resources Agency as of the end of 2022, there are pumps made in Germany (KSB), Japan (Tohatsu and Torishima), as well as local brands such as Indopump, Atlas Coco, and Ruhak, not including 175 floating pump units from various brands.
"Each brand has different maintenance standards, availability of spare parts, and service life. KSB pumps made in Germany, for example, are designed to last 15 to 20 years with routine maintenance, while locally produced pumps generally have a shorter technical life," he explained.
IAW also noted that there were allegations circulating among contractors and consultants for natural resources and environment that some of the pumps branded European or Japanese that the government had purchased were actually licensed Chinese products.
The suspicion, said Iskandar, cannot be confirmed or denied because the contract documents and Certificate of Origin are not published.
In addition, IAW noted a striking price fluctuation, namely in 2022, 60 pump units were budgeted at Rp8.9 billion or around Rp148 million per unit. Meanwhile, in the 2026 to 2027 project, 63 pump units are included in one package worth Rp2.62 trillion along with the construction of ponds and polders, so that the unit price of the pump cannot be separated transparently.
"The BPK in its performance audit has stated that Jakarta's flood control is not effective, among other things due to weak planning and unreliable data. However, the macro-based performance audit is not enough," said Iskandar.
He encouraged the BPK to conduct a Specific Purpose Examination (PDTT) in a thematic manner that goes deeper into each pump procurement contract, regarding price details, technical specifications, to compliance with the Presidential Decree on the Procurement of Goods and Services.
He also proposed the formation of an independent team of academics, hydrological engineers, and anti-corruption activists to evaluate the effectiveness of pump spending over a decade, with results published publicly.
"Transparency is the best medicine for suspicion," concluded Iskandar.