Slum Area In Mataram, NTB Has Drastically Reduced, It Used To Be 300 Hectares, Now Only 99.8

Illustration - North side of Jangkuk River in Pejeruk Ampenan Village, Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province/ANTARA

MATARAM - The Department of Housing and Settlements of Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province (NTB) noted that the remaining 99.8 hectares of slum areas in Mataram are spread out at several points in the village.

"Every year the slum area in Mataram continues to decrease, from around 300 hectares in 2016," said Head of the Mataram City Housing and Settlement Area (Disperkim) Nazaruddin M Fikri in Mataram, Antara, Thursday, July 21.

The remaining 99.8 hectares of slum areas in Mataram include the areas of Karang Tapen, Kamasan, and the southern part of the Jangkuk River in Dasan Agung Village.

From several points of slum areas, the priority this year is the arrangement of the area on the southern edge of the Jangkuk River in the Dasan Agung Village.

"The area is a priority because with one program, it can have a lot of impact or benefits for local residents," he said.

The arrangements that will be carried out include opening access roads such as the northern part of the Jangkuk River in the Pejeruk Village of Ampenan which will connect the Dasan Agung Bridge with the Ampenan Bridge with a length of about 1.94 kilometers and a width of eight meters.

With the opening of the access road, it will also have an impact on repairing canals, slum houses, structuring rivers, changing people's habits so that they no longer throw garbage and defecate in rivers, and make the area clean, safe, and disaster-friendly.

This means, he said, people who now live with their backs to the river can face the river so that cleanliness is maintained.

"Meanwhile, disaster-friendly, with road access, four-wheel vehicle facilities for fire engines, ambulances, cleaning cars and others can pass," he said.

According to him, the arrangement of the area on the edge of the Jangkuk River will also have an impact on reducing slum areas in Mataram City, which currently has 99.8 hectares left.

"If the opening of access roads in the southern part of Jangkuk River can be realized, we can reduce the slum area by almost one hectare. Not to mention in Kamasan and Pengmpel, which are currently being carried out structuring slum areas of about 5-6 hectares," he said.