Causes Of Jakarta Floods From The Analysis Of The Second Cawagub Of The Capital City

Jakarta floods (Irvan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Everyone agrees that the Jakarta Deputy Governor (cawagub) candidate who is currently competing must understand the causes and solutions to one of Jakarta's classic problems, namely flooding.

The reason is, since a long time ago, flooding was an annual problem that often visited every rainy season. So, it is imperative for those who will accompany DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to help reduce the impact of flooding through the DKI Provincial Government's policy.

In a discussion event held by the Jakarta Solidarity Party (PSI) yesterday, Friday, March 6, cawagub Ahmad Riza Patria from Gerindra and Nurmansjah Lubis from PKS had their own views on the Jakarta floods.

For Riza, the main cause of flooding in Jakarta is the lack of green open space (RTH) which functions to absorb water into the ground. As of 2019, ITB academics stated that RTH in Jakarta was only 14.9 percent.

In fact, Law 26 of 2007 concerning Spatial Planning, article 29 mandates that every city must have at least 30 percent of the green open space of the total area of the city. In details, 20 percent of public green open space is managed by the local government and 10 percent is privately owned.

"Why is that? Yes, that is the consequence of a city without developing cities without proper planning, so the green space is reduced," said Riza in a discussion held in the Kebayoran Baru area, South Jakarta, Friday, March 6.

Meanwhile, Nurmansjah has a different view. He said, a bad drainage system or water channel is the main cause of flooding in Jakarta. Because reflecting on the floods on February 25, he said, the Jakarta floods were caused by local rain, not water sent from upstream or from the West Java region.

"Drainage in Jakarta is like a rusty pipe. If the extreme rain is like the flood yesterday, the problem is if our micro drainage channel goes wrong," said Nurmansjah.

The solutions they offer

After the two DKI Jakarta cawagub analyzed the flood problem, both admitted that they had a solution. Regarding floods, Ahmad Riza Patria will drive efforts to expand RTH at a number of points to control floods in Jakarta.

The trick, he said, is to allocate a large nominal regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD) for the purchase of land so that it can be used as RTH.

"We must pursue land acquisition and so on. The budget for flooding is indeed huge. But, there is something that is no less important, namely empowering us for us," said Riza.

Meanwhile, Nurmansjah will revive the Muhammad Husni Thamrin (MHT) Project which was initiated by former DKI Governor Ali Sadikin. This arrangement includes repairing the drainage from each house and repairing the drainage connecting channel.

"I will revive the MHT program. Imagine, there are 276 urban villages (waterways) that we have to work on, we have to look at them," he said.