BBWS Ministry Of Public Works Reveals That The Cause Of Jakarta Is Still Flooded Even Though There Are Two Dams

Head of the Ciliwung River Basin Center (BBWS) Cisadane Directorate General of Water Resources of the Ministry of Public Works David Partonggo Oloan Marpaung. (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

BOGOR - Floods have become a disaster that cannot be resolved until now.

In fact, the government has built the Ciawi and Sukamahi Dams which have been believed to be able to withstand runoff from upstream.

Head of the Ciliwung River Basin Center (BBWS) Cisadane, Directorate General of Water Resources, Ministry of Public Works, David Partonggo Oloan Marpaung, said the two dams in Bogor Regency had played a major role in reducing the risk of flooding in Jabodetabek.

However, the main problem now lies on the downstream side which is not fully protected by the embankment.

"(The dam) Sukamahi and Ciawi, how come it has been built, but why is my house in Bekasi still flooded? Why is the Ciliwung river in Bidara Cina still flooded? The embankment has not yet been completed," said David while giving a presentation at Ciawi Dam, Bogor Regency, West Java, Thursday, December 11.

The construction of embankments on the banks of the Ciliwung River is part of the Ciliwung Normalization project.

Of the total length of the 33 kilometers (km) embankment, currently there are still about 16 km of unfinished work.

"When water occurs in certain flood discharges, it flows into the Ciliwung river, although it has been stuck in Ciliwung, in Sukamahi Dam, Ciawi, but still flows here. Because the embankment has not yet become as much as 16 km, the water flows into this hole," he said.

David said that his party together with the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government are accelerating the completion of normalization.

In the task division scheme, the Ministry of Public Works BBWS is responsible for building embankments, while the provincial government handles land acquisition, but land acquisition is the biggest challenge.

Many settlements stand on the river border, some have even been certified so that the land clearing process takes a long time.

"Building the Ciliwung embankment is not easy, because there are certificates on the banks of the river, we need to clear the land. So far, the land has been released by the government or the TNI, we are building the embankment," he said.

After the land is free, work also costs a lot of money. To complete the construction of a 16 km embankment, a budget of up to IDR 1.2 trillion is needed.

The DKI Provincial Government has prepared a budget of IDR 232 billion for land acquisition in two priority urban villages, namely Cililitan and Pengadegan. The release is targeted for completion in 2026.

"In January, the embankment will be built and hopefully in 2028 DKI will finish freeing the land. But we are not waiting for 2028. Tomorrow, 2 km will be released, we will immediately wake up the day after. So, in January we will build, hopefully in 2029 the Ciliwung River embankments will be finished," he said.

With the completion of the embankment and the functioning of the sodetan that has been built, according to David, the risk of flooding from the Ciliwung River can be significantly reduced.

"So what does that mean? When there is certain rain that produces flood discharges of up to 50 years, God willing, hopefully there will be no more flooding on the right and left of the Ciliwung River," he explained.