T

he Jakarta Public Works Agency plans to build a new reservoir in Pluit, North Jakarta, funded by a Rp 280 billion (US$30.8 million) grant from the Japanese government, starting next year.

The agency chief, Ery Basworo, said on Friday that the administration needed to construct a new reservoir in Pluit to offer better protection against flooding in the area, which is located close to Jakarta Bay.

“We have installed a number of pumps in the area, but they are not enough to pump water out of the area during heavy rain,” Ery said.

The agency operates 11 pumps in Pluit, with a total pumping capacity of 46 cubic meters of water per second.

“Many of these pumps are worn out, decreasing the total capacity. We need to build a reservoir to retain water flowing from the upstream area,” Ery said.

The agency head explained that unlike other pumps in the city that were operated during heavy rain only, the Pluit pumps were in use around-the-clock.

“Pluit is located below sea level. The pumps are constantly pumping water out of the coastal area,” Ery said.

Separately, the agency’s water facilities maintenance head, Tarjuki, said the Pluit pumps were the most damaged pumps in the city.

“Maintenance of Pluit pumps has been hard work. The pumps often need to be repaired and overhauled,” Tarjuki said.

The Japanese government will provide funding for all work needed to construct the reservoir, with the city administration having to provide only the land.

Tarjuki said the Japanese government would also provide consultants for the reservoir construction and its maintenance.

The grant will also be used to replace three of the current Pluit pumps. The new pumps will each have a
capacity of 5 cubic meters per second.

The city will relocate a small quay in the area currently used by local fishermen to moor their boats.

The administration is lagging behind in its work to restore and expand all of its lakes and reservoirs, putting the blame on insufficient budgets.

This year, the city cleaned and returned five lakes to their original sizes as mandated by the Spatial Planning Bylaw.

The five lakes were Babakan (with a total area 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 lakes and reservoirs, with a total area of 149.92 hectares.

To be in line with the 2011-2030 Spatial Plan, the administration must create 13 more lakes across the city.

Among the targeted locations are Jagakarsa (11 hectares), Bintaro (3 hectares) and Lebak Bulus (3 hectares) in South Jakarta and Marunda (56 hectares) in North Jakarta.

— JP/Andreas D. Arditya