Anies Withdraws Appeal, Residents Of Mampang River Flood Victims: Fickle, But We Are Relieved

Anies Baswedan/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Residents of the Mampang River flood victims who are plaintiffs in the case at the Jakarta Administrative Court, through their attorney, Francine Widjojo, responded to the actions of the Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, to withdraw an appeal against the decision of the Jakarta Administrative Court regarding the dredging of the Mampang River.

Francine said that her client said that he was relieved by Anies's cancellation of the appeal, even though the attitude of the former Minister of Education and Culture seemed wishy-washy.

"Although it seems wishy-washy, we are relieved. Finally, Mr. Anies did not extend the complaint process for the residents of the DKI Jakarta flood victims with an appeal. From filing an objection to Mr. Anies to the Administrative Court decision, it took a year, especially if an appeal was added," said Francine told reporters Friday, March 11.

Actually, said Francine, the flood victims sued Anies only wanting the DKI Provincial Government to work on dealing with Jakarta floods, especially increasing the water holding capacity in Mampang River so that it no longer floods.

"What is requested is concrete action for Mr. Anies' routine work to control floods so that no more residents become victims. We thank the Administrative Court Panel of Judges for their wise and careful decision," said Anies.

With the revocation of the appeal against the PTUN's decision regarding the dredging of the Mampang River, Francine hopes that the DKI Provincial Government will prioritize flood control programs, including dredging and normalizing rivers in Jakarta that are experiencing siltation.

For information, the revocation of the appeal against the PTUN decision was carried out by the Legal Bureau of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Secretariat after receiving directions from Anies. This appeal was also withdrawn after receiving various criticisms from the DKI Jakarta DPRD.

The head of the DKI Legal Bureau, Yayan Yuhanah, revealed that Anies decided to withdraw the appeal because the panel of judges did not state that the DKI Provincial Government had committed an unlawful act.

Another consideration for revocation of the appeal was because the panel of judges also rejected 5 of the 7 demands of the plaintiffs in this case. The plaintiffs in this case are a number of residents of the Mampang River flood victims.

"In this case, the panel of judges has considered that only 2 demands were deemed not optimal by the DKI Provincial Government in Mampang River, and actually the DKI Provincial Government has made efforts to overcome the flood problem in the Mampang River area," Yayan explained.