Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has shown his strong commitment to alleviating the capital'€™s perennial issues, particularly flooding and traffic congestion, by dedicating more than 25 percent of the proposed 2014 city budget for flood mitigation and transportation programs.

The 2014 draft budget submitted to the city council for deliberation and endorsement on Tuesday, totals Rp 69.5 trillion (US$5.79 billion) '€” a 38.7 percent increase from this year'€™s budget of Rp 50.1 trillion.

Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said that nearly half of the total city budget was proposed to finance flood mitigation and transportation projects.

'€œI can'€™t point out the exact percentage but it'€™s a significant amount '€”it might reach 50 percent,'€ he told reporters after a plenary session on the 2014 draft city budget bylaw on Thursday at City Hall.

Previously, acting city secretary Wiryatmoko said programs related to flood mitigation and transportation, which will be carried out by relevant agencies, would get a combined budget that amounted to 28 percent of the total budget.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency and Jakarta Public Works Agency will get triple the amount in budget allocation compared to 2013. This year, the council approved the allocation of Rp 4.97 trillion for public works and Rp 3.38 trillion for transportation projects.

Flood mitigation and transportation programs will also involve other relevant agencies, including the Energy and Industry Agency and the Public Housing and Administrative Building Agency.

To normalize rivers and lakes across the capital, for example, the city administration has to relocate thousands to squatters occupying the targeted areas, thus, it aims to build at least 200 low-cost apartments to support the
project.

The city allocated Rp 1.66 trillion to procure land at Cengkareng Drain II, Pesanggrahan River, Angke River and Sunter River, and another Rp 140.36 billion to dredge rivers, lakes and connecting waterways across the capital.

It also allocated Rp 600.5 billion to finance the first phase of the Jakarta Emergency Dredging Initiative (JEDI), Rp 140.36 billion to dredge city waterways and Rp 121.5 billion to build absorption pits across the capital.

With a list of ambitious projects, the city council asked the executive to work harder next year to complete them all as targeted.

'€œThe city administration should work harder and create a solid plan. We suggest that the city announce project tenders as early as possible next year so we can carry out physical projects long before the rainy season arrives,'€ M. Sanusi of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party said during the plenary session.

The Golkar Party'€™s Asraf Ali also demanded the city improve supervision over the establishment of absorption pits across the capital.

Only 70 percent of the total targeted 1,949 absorption pits were built this year.

Meanwhile, the city administration has set aside Rp 3 trillion to procure new Transjakarta buses and another Rp 1.64 trillion to buy medium-sized buses to replace aging Metro Mini and Kopaja buses.

Rukun Santoso of the People'€™s Conscience (Hanura) Party said the council expected the city to finalize a blue map on the city administration'€™s public transportation.

'€œThe city should prepare capital'€™s public transportation master plan while building and integrating all public transportation modes. All developed countries have integrated public transportation means,'€ he said.

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