Councilors have slammed the public works agency for not making the most of the 2008 budget to complete land acquisition for the East Flood Canal (BKT) project.

On Monday the agency reported it had only spent 30 percent of its budget in 2008.

Agency head Budi Widiantoro said his office had only used Rp 99 billion (US$8 million) of its Rp 300 billion municipal budget for last year’s BKT project.

“We also received about Rp 400 billion from the national budget, but the absorption was only about Rp 202 billion,” Budi said at City Hall.

“We faced some hurdles in the land acquisition process. For instance, we received the budget a bit late, in March.

“There was also a change in regulation. The National Land Agency [BPN] stipulated that there should be an appraisal process for all areas measuring more than one hectare.”

He added his office would appoint a consultant to conduct appraisals to speed the land acquisition process.

The administration has pledged to intensify land procurement in the near future for the canal.

The canal is aimed at reducing floods in a 270-square-kilometer flood-prone area straddling East and North Jakarta.

The agency also used up only 47 percent of its overall budget, far from last year’s budget absorption target maximum of 85 percent.

For 2009, the administration set the budget absorption at 95 percent.

Sayogo Hendrosubroto, chairman of City Council Commission D for development affairs, urged the agency to immediately complete the land acquisition.

“We approved a big portion of the budget for the canal project, but so far we have not seen the results. The agency has really failed to meet its budget absorption,” he chided.

“So we believe it doesn’t need a lot of money to complete the project. The budget will be useless.

“It would be better if they allocate a portion of the budget to improve the city’s public facilities, like fixing damaged roads and dredging rivers.”

Commission D member Irman Syukur agreed.

“We had high hopes that the administration would soon complete the acquisition process,” he said.

“The canal is important, but the agency should also pay attention to other facilities, like damaged roads across the capital. Many Jakartans have suffered a lot from the damaged roads.”

Agency data shows a total of 178.4 hectares of land in East Jakarta is needed to accommodate the canal and another 82.5 hectares for corridors beside the canal.

In North Jakarta, 78.6 hectares is needed for the canal, with 69.4 hectares for its corridors.

This year, Rp 250 billion is allocated for land acquisition in East and North Jakarta for the project.

Budi said his agency would allocate Rp 100 billion to procure land until March.

“We spent Rp 50 billion during January and February this year. We will allocate another Rp 41 billion this week,” he said.

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