T

he Jakarta administration says it has not yet been able to restore and expand all of its water reservoirs, putting the blame on low budgets.

The City Public Works Agency admitted Wednesday that the administration had only been able to clean and expand five reservoirs back to their intended sizes as mandated by the Spatial Planning Bylaw.

“The procurement process for the land needed to expand the reservoirs is going slowly,” said Fakhrurrazi, the agency’s head for Water Resource Management division.

Fakhrurrazi, however, did not provide details on the budget allocation for the procurement or how much was needed.

The five reservoirs the agency had restored are Babakan (with a total width of 32 hectares) and Mangga Bolong (12 hectares) in South Jakarta, Rawa Dongkal (12 hectares), Kelapa Dua Wetan (10 hectares) and Cilangkap (11 hectares) in East Jakarta.

According to a report released by the agency in 2009, the Jakarta administration manages a total of 30 reservoirs and dams, with a total width of 149.92 hectares.

The city has designated the reservoirs and dams to be used as water holding areas to reduce flooding, water catchment areas to replace underground water loss, sources of raw water, tourism sites and environmental preservation sites.

Fakhrurrazi said the main causes of shrinking reservoirs were illegal occupation and garbage.

“Squatters usually occupy the reservoir side area, reclaiming the reservoir as their numbers grow. Garbage dumped into the reservoir speeds up this process,” he said.

In the 2011-2030 Spatial Planning, the administration is aiming to create 13 more reservoirs across the city. Among the targeted locations are in Jagakarsa (11 hectares), Bintaro (3 hectares) and Lebak Bulus (3 hectares) in South Jakarta and Marunda (56 hectares) in North Jakarta.

The Public Works Ministry reported that a large number of reservoirs in the capital had begun to disappear or had been polluted.

Pitoyo Subandrio, director general of rivers and beaches at the ministry, said that at least 23 reservoirs in the capital were in need of immediate assistance due to pollution.

The ministry data showed that in 2007 there were a total of 204 reservoirs in the Greater Jakarta area, which includes Bekasi, Bogor, Tangerang and Depok.

The number had decreased to 181, with the loss of 23 reservoirs.

Environmental organization Jakarta Green Map reported that 68 percent of reservoirs in Jakarta were already badly damaged and only 20 percent still held water safe enough to be consumed.

One of the reservoirs currently on the verge of vanishing is the Rawa Badung reservoir in East Jakarta.

The reservoir had already lost 30 percent of its original width of 5 hectares due to squatting and the dumping of garbage.