Target Dredging of West Flood Canal to Complete in One Year, Pramono: We Cannot Back Down, This is a Priority

Dredging activities of the West Flood Canal in the Manggarai Water Gate segment to Kyai Tapa Road (Roxy) (DKI Provincial Government document)

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung directly reviewed the dredging of the West Flood Canal in the Manggarai Water Gate segment to Kyai Tapa Street (Roxy). This project is targeted to be completed in one year as a step to increase the capacity of water flow and reduce the potential for flooding in a number of capital areas.

The review was carried out at the meeting point of the Ciliwung River and the Krukut River, which has been said to have been dredged because it has not been dredged for a long time.

"We are today in a very strategic location to overcome one of the problems of flooding in Jakarta. This is where the Ciliwung River and the Krukut River meet, which have not been dredged for a long time. We will concentrate for one year on dredging in this West Flood Canal, which is the downstream of the Ciliwung River and the Krukut River," said Pramono, Friday, April 10.

Technically, the West Flood Canal has a varying width of between 30 and 100 meters. The total volume of dredging is planned to reach 179,269 cubic meters which is divided into three work segments, starting from the Manggarai Water Gate to the Roxy area.

Currently, the work is focused on the Rubber Water Gate segment to Kyai Tapa Road along 3,850 meters. The target volume in this segment reaches around 165,381 cubic meters.

As of April 9, the dredging progress has reached 1,609 cubic meters. The work involves six heavy equipment - four amphibious excavators and two long arm excavators - as well as 30 trucks to speed up the process of transporting mud material.

Pramono emphasized that this project was a priority so that it should not be delayed from the schedule that had been set. He also asked the regional and technical service ranks to closely monitor its implementation.

"This project must not fail and must not retreat. This is a priority for the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government," he said.

This dredging is aimed at increasing water capacity and facilitating the flow in the canal, which has been experiencing subsidence due to sedimentation and garbage. The impact is expected to be felt immediately in flood-prone areas such as Setiabudi, Tanah Abang, Menteng, Gambir, Palmerah, to Grogol Petamburan.

"With dredging and normalization carried out consistently, we hope that the potential for flooding in these areas can be significantly suppressed," explained Pramono.

The DKI Provincial Government also utilizes the period of decreased rainfall which is estimated to take place from mid-April to September to accelerate work in the field.

In the future, the dredging results will be connected with the normalization program along the Ciliwung River and Krukut River, so that the flow of water to the sea will be smoother.

"If this succeeds, the flow of water to the sea will be faster. The challenge is indeed when there is a flood, the water is still held back. However, this is part of our big effort to control flooding," he added.