Defeating Anies In Mampang River Flood Lawsuit, Residents: Proof That Governor Is Not Serious In Handling Floods

DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan/DOK Instagram aniesbaswedan

JAKARTA - A number of residents who were victims of the Mampang River flood defeated DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan in a lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN).

In this case, the residents sued Anies because his house was submerged and suffered losses due to the big flood on 19 to 21 February. Now, some of the lawsuits have been granted by the Administrative Court.

The lawyer representing the plaintiffs, Francine Widjojo, considers the results of the decision to prove that Anies is not serious in working on the flood management program.

"This decision proves that the Governor is not serious about flooding. In the future, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government must be more serious about dealing with flooding problems in DKI Jakarta and normalizing rivers," said Francine in a statement, Thursday, February 17.

Meanwhile, one of the plaintiffs, Tri Andarsanti Pursita, said that he was grateful that the legal efforts they had taken were fruitful.

He recounted the losses experienced during the flood last year due to the silting of the Mampang River because the DKI Provincial Government had no longer dredged it since 2017.

"The siltation of the Mampang River in Pondok Jaya, the area we live in, can be seen from the water level of the river which is only about 15 centimeters. As a result, the road in front of my house was flooded as high as 2 meters at that time," said Sita.

"We are aware that the lawsuit process will be complicated, but we believe that this must be done for better flood control in Jakarta," he continued.

For information, this lawsuit was filed by seven residents of the Mampang River flood victims since last August 2021. The residents included Tri Andarsanti Pursita, Jeanny Lamtiur Simanjuntak, Gunawan Wibisono, Yusnelly Suryadi D, Shanty Widhiyanti, Virza Syafaat Sasmitawidjaja, and Indra. They are residents of Jakarta who became victims of floods in early 2021.

The plaintiffs had previously sent an objection letter to Anies regarding the handling of the Jakarta floods in March 2021. Anies has also replied to the letter of response to the residents' objections. However, it turned out that the residents were not satisfied with Anies' answer letter.

Finally, they sued Anies to the Administrative Court. The legal process is running, the Administrative Court issued a decision on February 15, 2022. The Administrative Court granted some of the residents' claims. Anies was sentenced by the panel of judges to carry out dredging of the Mampang River completely to the Pondok Jaya area and to process the construction of river sheet piles in Pela Mampang Village.