P

oor liquid-waste management in the capital may explain why most of the city'€™s drainage systems do not work well, which contributes to the perennial flooding issue.

Jakarta Public Works Agency head Manggas Rudy Siahaan said that only 3 percent of the city was serviced by a proper sewerage system.

'€œThe sewerage system covers only the Setiabudi area in Kuningan [South Jakarta]; that'€™s why we built the Setiabudi reservoir,'€ Manggas said after a meeting with officials from the Public Works Ministry at City Hall recently.

Residents in the remaining 97 percent of areas, Manggas said, simply dumped their domestic waste into the city'€™s drainage system. Disorganized utility ducts make the situation even worse.

'€œThe central government has plans to build sewerage systems in the central zone [covering the area from Medan Merdeka to Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta]. It will take time, though,'€ he said, declining to set a timeline or a target deadline.

Public Works Ministry official Pong Silura, who attended the meeting, said that the ministry was conducting feasibility studies on the project at the moment, implying that the project would be funded by foreign loans.

Separately, Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said that the city planned to use a pipe-ramming method to dredge the ground and install piping to reorganize utility ducts and separate them from the drainage
system.

'€œThe equipment only costs a few billion rupiah; it'€™s not that expensive. It'€™s like Pac Man '€” it will eat the ground so we just need to install the piping,'€ he said, adding that it would be worth the investment.

'€œWe spend billions on building waterways, so why not buy the equipment to build proper utility ducts as well?'€

The plan to build a sewerage system was introduced over 15 years ago, but not much progress has been seen since that time.

The Public Works Ministry and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) have set up a master plan for liquid-waste management in the city.

The master plan outlines a total of 15 sewerage zones for the city, which are expected to be
finished by 2050. The project will cost around Rp 70 trillion (US$5.91 billion).

According to Ahok, the city administration would build two of the planned zones.

According to the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), constructing zones one and six, which would account for up to 20 percent of the city'€™s liquid waste, would be the first part of the program. The two zones are expected to be completed by 2020.

Zone one will cover parts of Central Jakarta including the areas around Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin, and will extent north to Pluit in North Jakarta. Zone six will cover the Bung Karno Stadium area in South Jakarta, as well as Daan Mogot and Duri Kosambi in West Jakarta.

The cost to construct both zones is estimated to be around Rp 4 trillion.

The city administration has agreed to pay 30 percent of the project costs, while the ministry will cover the rest.

The tender for the project is scheduled to be opened later this year.

Despite being a metropolitan city, Jakarta '€” home to 12 million people '€” does not have a proper liquid-waste management system. Houses in the city generally have only septic tanks for liquid waste from lavatories, while other waste water is channeled into nearby drains that feed into rivers.