JAKARTA - The Ministry of Public Works (PU) has arranged infrastructure in Kendari City, Southeast Sulawesi Province, as part of its readiness to host the 2026 United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) international forum, which is scheduled to take place on May 7-9, 2026.
The arrangement is carried out through river management, urban drainage management, and flood control system strengthening.
This step is aimed at improving the quality of the environment, facilitating community mobility, and supporting the comfort of the city ahead of the implementation of the international forum.
Throughout April 2026, the Ministry of PU through the Kendari Sulawesi IV River Basin Agency (BWS) carried out the normalization of the Korumba River and Mandonga River in Mandonga District.
This activity is a follow-up to the direction of Minister PU Dody Hanggodo that the handling of rivers should start from the estuary to ensure that the flow of water runs smoothly from upstream to downstream and minimizes the risk of flooding.
"Road improvements will certainly be in vain if the drainage is blocked and the estuary is dredged to trigger flash floods or flooding when it rains. If the estuary is wide open and the water flows fast, the sediment will be wasted into the sea so that the flow capacity is maintained," said Dody as quoted from a written statement, Wednesday, April 29.
Normalization is carried out through dredging sediment and deepening the river channel to increase the capacity and facilitate the flow of water.
For the Korumba River, normalization work was carried out along 650 meters with a width of 13 meters. Meanwhile, for the Mandonga River, normalization was carried out along 900 meters with a width of 12 meters.
In addition to short-term handling, the PU Ministry is preparing the construction of urban main drainage in three priority corridors in Kendari City, namely the Korumba River area along 2 kilometers, the Bonggoeya River along 4.5 kilometers and the Polresta corridor - Wanggu River along 1.7 kilometers.
The development of the drainage system was designed through collaboration between BWS Sulawesi IV Kendari and the Kendari City Government (Pemkot).
In 2026, activities are focused on completing land acquisition and preparing designs, while construction is planned to begin the following year.
In the medium term, the PU Ministry plans to build the Nanga-Nanga Retention Pond in Baruga Village, Baruga District, Kendari City, in the period 2027-2029.
The infrastructure is designed to have a storage volume of 1.58 million cubic meters.
The retention pond is projected to be able to reduce the flood of Kendari City by 54.14 percent or 141.67 cubic meters per second.
In addition to serving as a flood control, the area is also designed to be a water conservation area, increasing infiltration, maintaining water quality and providing public open space for the community.
Through this gradual arrangement of infrastructure, the Ministry of PU hopes that Kendari City will be more ready to host UCLG ASPAC 2026 as well as obtain long-term benefits in the form of a more organized urban area, comfortable and resilient to flooding.
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