City Government Hopes For The Normalization Of The Bremi And Meduri Rivers To Prevent Floods In Pekalongan

Heavy equipment dredges soil deposits in the Meduri River, Pekalongan City, Central Java, Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (ANTARA-HO-Humas Pekalongan City)

JATENG - Pekalongan City Government (Pemkot) proposed that Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo instruct to normalize the Bremi and Meduri rivers as a flood prevention measure in Pekalongan.

Pekalongan Mayor Afzan Arslan Djunaid said the proposal took into account the sedimentation of the two rivers were already shallow. Moreover, it is small in size but flowed by large currents when heavy rain fell.

"This condition causes flooding to be quite high in the Tirto area to Pasirkratonkramat because the existence of embankments is unable to hold water due to runoff from the Meduri and Bremi rivers," he said in Pekalongan, Central Java, Wednesday, January 4, as reported by Antara.

He said, as long as the two rivers have not been normalized, the residents of Tirto, Pasirsari, Kramatsari and their surroundings in Pekalongan will definitely be affected by flooding when it rains with high intensity.

"We hope that the proposal can be responded to by BBWS Pemali Juana, which has the authority to normalize the Meduri and Bremi rivers," he said.

Afzan said that currently his party is still waiting for Ganjar to instruct the Pemali Juana River Basin Center for efforts to normalize the two rivers.

"Currently, the Lodji River and Banger River have been normalized. The homework is just waiting for the normalization of the Bremi River and Meduri River to be carried out immediately," he said.

Afzan said the water pump owned by the Pekalongan City Government did not have a maximum impact on the condition of the Bremi and Meduri rivers which would still be flooded when it rained heavily.

"Although we already have a new pump in the Tirto area, when the two rivers overflow, the pump will not run optimally," he said.