City, central govt set up team to maintain flood canal

The city administration and the Public Housing Ministry will form a management board to maintain the East Flood Canal after it is fully functioning.

“The management board will cooperate with the Public Housing Ministry to handle technical and social aspects,” Governor Fauzi Bowo said Wednesday.  

He said the technical aspect includes the volume of garbage, while the social aspect includes nearby resident activity and illegal buildings.

Chief of the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Bureau at the ministry Pitoyo Subandrio said the management board would consist of officials from his bureau who would operate the water gates and subdistrict chiefs.   

“The canal passes 13 subdistricts and the chiefs will guard the canal, making it free of street vendor activity such as people selling food,” he told The Jakarta Post.

He said he received approval from Vice President Boediono during an aerial inspection on the canal’s construction, West Flood Canal, in West Jakarta, and Situ Gintung Dam in Tangerang, on Wednesday. The governor also attended the inspection.  

Pitoyo said the city and the government should collaborate to prevent the deterioration of the canal such as Cakung Drain, West Jakarta, where houses were closely located.

The 23.5-kilometer canal, which reached the sea at the end of last year, is supposed to regulate water from six major rivers, Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jatikramat, Cakung and Blencong.