Bobby Nasution Instructs Normalization Of Drainage To Prevent Floods In Medan

Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution inspects the flood of shipments due to the overflow of the Deli River in Medan, Saturday (15/5/2022). (DOC ANTARA)

MEDAN - The Medan City Government, North Sumatra, has instructed the relevant regional apparatus organizations and the sub-district authorities to immediately normalize drainage to prevent flooding due to heavy rains.

"The Department of Public Works (Public Works) and sub-districts collaborate with each other to normalize drainage," said Assistant for Government and People's Welfare of the Medan City Secretariat, M Sofyan, as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 3.

Handling this flood, he explained, is one of the priority programs of the Medan City Government, so the work to normalize drainage must run more optimally and effectively.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has issued the latest weather forecast for the Indonesian region, which is experiencing moderate rainfall from August to October 2022.

BMKG estimates that in August 2022, around 9.86 percent of Indonesia's territory will experience rainfall in the low category or 0-100 mm per month, and 67.12 percent in the medium category 100-300 mm per month.

"When normalizing drainage, the sub-district and the UPT of the Medan City Public Works Department collaborate with each other to determine which points are often flooded," explained Sofyan.

The sub-district must also be able to determine which work to normalize drainage independently or in collaboration with the Medan City Public Works Agency so that the work that has been completed and the work to be carried out in the future.

"The mayor wants normalization to continue, such as Medan Selayang and Medan Johor. After normalizing the two areas, the waterlogging is much reduced," said Sofyan.

Head of the Drainage Division of the Medan Public Works Agency, Gibson Panjaitan, said that his party was making a master plan to complete the overall normalization of drainage in Medan City.

"Currently the 'master plan' has been implemented, and it is planned to complete in December 2022. We hope that the drainage normalization will be completed as a whole according to the 'master plan' that we have compiled," he said.