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overnor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has announced that the dredging project at Pluit Reservoir in North Jakarta had resumed on Tuesday after being suspended for a few days.

'€œThe project was halted due to an expired contract and we needed an evaluation to determine whether or not the target set in the contract had been met,'€ he told reporters at City Hall.

Jakarta Public Works Agency head Manggas Rudy Siahaan said that the project would be completed on Dec. 15.

'€œWe have assessed the volume of sediment that has been dredged by the operator. There was a shortfall: the operator should have dredged 7,000 cubic meters of sediment but it has only dredged 6,000 cubic meters. We asked the operator to extend the work [until the target is reached],'€ he said.

Jokowi said that the dredging would be carried out again next year.

'€œDredging should be carried out every year if we want to normalize all of our rivers and reservoirs. This year we aim to dredge eight reservoirs,'€ he said, adding that the dredging projects this year would conclude in the middle of December as the fiscal year ended.

Head of water resources management at the public works agency, Djoko Soesetyo, acknowledged that the dredging projects under the Jokowi administration were more advanced compared to those of
previous administrations.

'€œWe now use heavy equipment and machines where previously we only relied on manual labor,'€ he said.

Djoko admitted, however, that the limited amount of heavy equipment owned by the city administration was not sufficient to meet the governor'€™s targets.

'€œWe only have six units and we are planning to procure more. Currently, we'€™re borrowing equipment from contractors, so it takes time for the tender process,'€ he said.

Iyah, 42, who lives near the Pluit pump-house, said she was not too worried about the upcoming peak of the rainy season because she had seen a lot of positive changes due to the normalization of the dam.

'€œIn January, the floods reached 2 meters and my house was almost completely inundated together with all the electrical items. The total financial loss was around Rp 6 million [US$516],'€ she told The Jakarta Post while enjoying her breakfast at a food stall on the western side of the reservoir.

For the coming months, she said there were no special preparations for possible flooding. There was also no dissemination program from the Penjaringan subdistrict administration on how to anticipate the rainy season, she claimed.

'€œWith the better conditions in the reservoir, I believe that the floods will not be as bad as in the past,'€ Iyah said.

A resident of Taman Burung Village, also on the western side of the reservoir, Abdurrohim, 59, said the changes brought about by the dredging could clearly be seen. The sides of the reservoir that were previously covered in mud, garbage and vegetation were now clear, he said.

'€œWe can see the water now. Prior to the dredging project, we could only see mud, garbage and eceng gondok [water hyacinth],'€ he said.

When heavy rains hit the area in the past two weeks the water level remained under control. The water flowed better and no flooding took place, he said.

'€œSo, for now, we have nothing to worry about, but if floods happen again next year, I'€™m ready as we can'€™t escape from a disaster like that,'€ Abdurrohim said.