Ahok: North Jakarta Property Developers Refuse to Build Dams

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Just yesterday (12/02/2015), Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok took time to pay a visit whilst monitoring the Sunter river embankment project at Jalan Yos Sudarso, North Jakarta. Ahok was deeply concerned knowing that out of the 12 luxurious property developers around Kelapa Gading area, none of them wanted to be responsible for the construction of the dam or wanter reservoir that may be useful to contain the rain water from ever flooding the area during the peak of raining season a couple days ago.

According to Ahok, the reservoir is particularly imperative as its function is to absorb water during heavy rain and especially when it is intense like a couple of days ago. Moreover, North Jakarta is located very near to the ocean and thus the intensity of the rainfall is a lot more in this area with more attacks of the rainfall coming due to the large tidal waves from the sea.

"So, who is really to blame in this particular circumstance? It is surely the government’s fault as first, why? Because we give permits for people to build houses without encouraging them to buld dams as well. So now, it is packed with houses but no dams. There are 12 property developers in the 1,500-hectare size of Kelapa Gading. Not a single of one of them wants to be responsible nor do anything about it. Each developer no longer has access. The most dangerous ones are the luxurious houses around Kelapa Gading area, the system is not right. And this is the burden that we have to bear, we have to do it for them. We cant really do anything about it because the agreement was too weak or incoherent to follow up," Ahok explained as shown on Liputan 6 Pagi SCTV, Friday (13/02/2015).

To address flooding issue, Ahok is planning to build a water reservoir next to Mall of Indonesia, Kelapa Gading. He has readied the site for the construction as he knows that flood will be something that comes back every now and then on an annual basis and a thorough anticipation strategy is deemed necessary for the better improvement of this area. As for the construction of the embankment at Sunter river which goes up to 1.900 meter in length is scheduled to finish this weekend.

When being compared to other areas in Jakarta, North Jakarta is the one experiencing the worst flood. This is primarily due to its location and condition of being lower than other parts of Jakarta, allowing for all rain waters to gradually accumulate in the area. It is also unfortunate to see Pantai Indah Kapuk area filled with luxurious housing and entertainment area whereas before it was an area to absorb water. (Akp/Ein)