Anies Admits He Didn't Ask For Media Praise

DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (Photo: Instagram @aniesbaswedan)

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan admitted that he did not want to get praise from media reports regarding his leadership in the capital city. Anies only asked the media to be an objective forum for public information.

He conveyed this at the 47th Mohammad Husni Thamrin-PWI Jaya Journalism Award event in 2021 at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta.

"We really hope that the media will become a repository of information and reproduction with objectivity. We don't ask to be praised and we don't ask to be shunned from criticism. We hope objectivity is maintained," said Anies, Wednesday, August 25.

Anies gave an example of the case when Jakarta was flooded. According to Anies, when flooding due to extreme rain occurs, one thing that must be considered is rainfall. Unfortunately, he assesses that the current rainfall is unpredictable.

In Jakarta, Anies said that the drainage system in Jakarta has always been built with a water storage capacity of 100 millimeters per day. So, if flooding occurs when the rainfall is above 100 millimeters, it is caused by the drainage system that can no longer hold water.

"To the ranks, we underline, if it rains below 100 millimeters per day and floods, it's the provincial government's fault. But if it rains above 150 millimeters, yes indeed our drainage system cannot accommodate it," said Anies.

Furthermore, Anies asked all parties to review the flood conditions at the beginning of 2021. He claimed that the floods that occurred at that time quickly receded because his staff quickly responded to flood control.

"You can check, the flood last February, Jakarta in 1 day all the floods have dried up. Why? Because it was pumped by all available power. Fire engines, park water sprinklers, all of them were deployed to draw water from places where there were floods," he said.

Therefore, Anies hopes that the public will understand that flooding is a problem that has befallen the capital city for a long time. However, he said, the DKI Provincial Government is trying to solve the problem.

"We hope that all of this can be used as material to build public optimism, that this city has problems that have crossed time, but we are gradually working on it. Well, we really hope that our media friends will maintain this objectivity," he concluded.