Jakarta drainage dredging ongoing

Jakarta Public Works Agency said Thursday it had cleaned nine main drainage pipes and was still working on six other pipes.

“The nine pipes are now back to its optimum capacity,” the agency chief Ery Basworo claimed Thursday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Jakarta's existing drainage system is the legacy of the 1960’s city spatial planning, consisting of a supposedly comprehensive network of 13 natural and some artificial rivers flowing through Jakarta, such as Ciliwung, Grogol, Sunter and Pasanggrahan rivers, along with their tributaries, drains and canals.

The system is seriously clogged with ever-mounting sediment and garbage.