Singakawang Flood Submerges Hundreds Of Houses, DPRD Alludes To Embankment Never Being Repaired For Decades

Floods hit residential areas in Kelurahan Semelagi Kecil, Singkawang, West Kalimantan. (Between-Rudi)

The flood submerged hundreds of houses in Kelurahan Semelagi Kecil, Singkawang City, West Kalimantan (Kalbar) since Wednesday, March 8 evening.

"Floods came from Wednesday night to Thursday (9 March) afternoon, with water levels of about 50 centimeters to 1 meter. The flood not only submerged hundreds of residents' houses, but also Muslim funerals, kelurahan offices and houses of worship," said Singkawang DPRD member Muhammadin in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, Thursday 9 March, confiscated by Antara.

He said the flooding that occurred in Semelagi Kecil was water sent from Bengkayang and Sambas. This is because the water discharge is higher than the existing embankment, so it overflows into residential areas near the embankment.

"Height water discharge exceeds the embankment in the Pinang River area, so the water overflows," he said.

Therefore, he asked for the embankment in the North Singkawang area to be repaired immediately in order to anticipate similar incidents in the future.

Moreover, for decades the existing embankments have never been repaired, while the area has experienced a flood cycle, for both two years, five years to ten years.

"The current water level is like what happened in 2003 and it will repeat itself in 2023. This means that there must be anticipatory steps to deal with this annual cycle by improving or building adequate embankments," he said.

Acting Mayor of Singkawang, Sumastro, added that the flood that occurred because the water level exceeded the height of the embankment or dam. "The embankment has been around for a long time, maybe decades," he said.

Only the problem, he continued, if it is elevated, will of course issue large funds. "This is what we are thinking so that it can become the attention of the central and provincial governments," he said.