Rob Belawan Embankment Development Plan Rejected, Bobby Nasution Gives Residents One Week To Consult

Mayor of Medan Bobby Nasution/DOK IST

MEDAN - A number of residents in the Medan Belawan sub-district rejected the plan to build a tidal levee. The mayor of Medan, Bobby Nasution, responded to the refusal of a number of residents.

Bobby asked the residents to consult again this week.

"If the residents are ready, then in early July the construction will be carried out immediately," Bobby told residents during a meeting at the Belawan Bahagia sub-district office, Tuesday, June 21.

Bobby explained that the embankment is expected to be able to prevent or at least reduce the tidal flood discharge which has been a scourge for the people in Belawan. Especially during the campaign, Bobby promised to build a dike according to the wishes of local residents.

According to him, the construction of the embankment is the best solution to overcome the tidal flood discharge.

"What is certain is that the construction of the rob embankment is carried out to overcome the flood problem that residents have been complaining about," he explained.

President Joko Widodo's son-in-law emphasized that the Medan City Government did not want to trouble residents in the construction of this embankment.

"If the residents don't agree, then we won't do the embankment construction. For that we will give a week whether the community agrees or not with the embankment construction. If they agree, then we will start construction in July 2022," he said.

The residents' rejection of the plan to build the embankment was very unfortunate for the Medan DPRD member, Hendra Ds. According to Hendra, the community should fully support the plan to build the embankment.

"The community should fully support it. This is a golden opportunity, because we have been waiting for the construction of the rob embankment for decades. Why has it been rejected. I think the community must fully support Mayor Bobby Nasution," said Hendra.

Separately, USU's political and government observer, DR Indra Fauzan, assessed that the rejection could be overcome with good communication. Moreover, the function of the embankment will be more useful.

"Of course it is natural for some residents to refuse. But of course this is the duty of the government in charge to socialize and provide understanding to the public that the purpose of the rob embankment construction is to reduce flooding, so that residents can be protected. From the development aspect, of course, the construction of this embankment many functions when viewed from the social and economic aspects," said Fauzan.