Value Observer There is Something Wrong with Jakarta's Flood Management

Illustration of a flood photo.

JAKARTA - The executive director of the Etos Indonesia Institute, Iskandarsyah, encourages law enforcement officials (APH) to immediately follow up on reports of alleged corruption in the procurement of pumping in the DKI Jakarta Water Resources (SDA) service, which has been reported by a number of anti-corruption activists.

"The Indonesian spirit asks that law enforcement officers, both the KPK, the Attorney General's Office and the Corruption Court of the National Police, immediately summon the head of the DKI Jakarta Land and Building Service, Ika Agustin Ningrun, to be questioned for alleged corruption in the procurement of pumping in the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government," said Iskandarsyah to reporters in Jakarta, Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Iskandar assessed that natural geographical and physical factors were not the only major problems of the flooding problem that routinely hit Jakarta, but environmental management and long-term mitigation were considered serious problems that were often ignored by officials in the Department of Public Works and Housing.

Iskandar said that although the budget allocated was quite large, reaching Rp. 5.6 trillion in 2025, the results in the field were not satisfactory, because floods still recur, especially during extreme weather.

"This means that something is wrong in the flood management in DKI Jakarta," said Iskandar.

Iskandar also asked Governor Pramono Anung to immediately reform the Land and Spatial Planning Service and was not afraid to take firm action if there were party people who supported the service.

"Because so far the head of the SDA has been considered immune from the law. In fact, the report on the alleged corruption of pumping and land procurement for river normalization has been submitted to the KPK, Kejaksaan Agung and the Corruption Tipikor Court of the National Police. However, until now there has been no examination. For this reason, Etos will continue to monitor the alleged corruption case in the DKI Jakarta SDA so that it can be revealed immediately," he explained.

Previously, the Corruption Crime Investigation Agency (LITPK) officially reported the Head of the DKI Jakarta Water Resources Office (Kadis SDA), Ika Agustin Ningrum, to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The report is related to alleged practices of problematic land procurement and tender processes for projects that are considered riddled with irregularities and have the potential to cause financial losses to the state of hundreds of billions of rupiah.

In addition, the Urban Poor Community Alliance (AMIKA) has also reported cases of alleged corruption and collusion in a number of projects held by the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's Water Resources (SDA) Service to the Corruption Court of the National Police Headquarters.

One of the projects that has been in the spotlight is the construction of a pump water management system located in the Jalan Daan Mogot area, West Jakarta with a tender value of Rp.164,262,947,680.44, as well as the project for consulting and project supervision services owed to drain the regional treasury of Rp.8,285,206,500.00.

Not stopping there, the Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) reported alleged corruption in the procurement of water pumps (pompanisasi) at the DKI Jakarta Water Resources Office (SDA) to the Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia, Thursday, February 26, 2026.

IAW asked that an investigation be conducted into the management of the water pump budget, which in the past decade has been said to have exceeded Rp. 20 trillion. According to them, the budget has never been audited thematically or specifically.

The Founding Secretary of IAW, Iskandar Sitorus, said that the repeated floods in Jakarta were suspected to be related to the technical performance of the Water Resources Agency, especially in the procurement process of water pumps.