Becoming Jokowi's Attention, DKI Disburses IDR 469 Billion to Free up 6.5 Hectares of Land for Ciliwung Normalization This Year

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government will acquire 6.5 hectares of land on the banks of the Ciliwung River this year. The land acquisition was carried out to continue work on the normalization of Ciliwung which has become the concern of President Joko Widodo.

Head of the Data and Information Service Unit for DKI Jakarta Water Resources (SDA) Office, Roedito said, this year's land acquisition will be in four sub-districts, namely Cililitan, Rawajati, Cawang, and Kampung Melayu.

"It is estimated (land acquisition) in the Cililitan Village that it will cover 0.8 hectares, Rawajati 1.5 hectares, Cawang 2.25 hectares, and Kampung Melayu 1.95 hectares", said Roedito when contacted, Tuesday, February 21.

The land acquisition budget is allocated from the 2023 APBD. After the land acquisition is carried out, the government will build an embankment (sheet pile) with a river alignment of 4.3 kilometres.

In detail, the embankment in Kampung Melayu Village is 1.3 kilometers long, 1 kilometer in Rawajati, 1.5 kilometers in Cawang, and 0.5 kilometers in Cililitan.

"The allocation (land acquisition) in the budget implementation document (DPA) for 2023 is around IDR 496 billion", he said.

Meanwhile, in 2024, the DKI Provincial Government will continue land acquisition for the 3.2-kilometre Ciliwung Normalization work. The details are, Manggarai Village is 1.5 kilometres, Kebon Manggis Village is 1.2 kilometres, and Bukit Duri Village is 0.5 kilometres.

Roedito said that his party had not taken into account the area of land to be acquired and its budget. "The DPA for 2024 is not (projected) yet", he continued.

During 2021-2022, the DKI Provincial Government carried out land acquisition in 324 areas with an area of 66.5 thousand square meters. The land acquisition is in the Villages of Balekambang, Cawang, Cililitan, Rawajati, Tanjung Barat and Gedong. The budget disbursed was IDR 425.9 billion.

Today, President Jokowi reviewed the progress of the Ciliwung normalization project in Pengadegan, South Jakarta. Jokowi targets the normalization of the Ciliwung River to be completed in 2024.

To date, normalization has been carried out for 16 kilometres out of a total of 33 kilometres. Jokowi is optimistic that there will be 17 kilometres of normalization remaining.

"We hope, I gave the target earlier, in two years. That means, by the end of 2024 (work is complete) the 17 kilos, God willing, will be completed. So, the normalization of the Ciliwung River is finished", Jokowi said, Tuesday, February 21.

Jokowi said that the normalization of Ciliwung had stalled for several years. The normalization of Ciliwung was continued during the Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono.

When he took office to replace Anies Baswedan, Heru immediately planned to acquire land for several plots in Rawajati, South Jakarta. Then, the normalization of construction work was continued by the PUPR Ministry.

"After stopping for a while, we will start immediately. Because there have been several points that have been freed, for example in Rawajati, the construction can start immediately, the sheet pile by the Ministry of Public Works", he concluded.