Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Thahaja Purnama has ordered the City Water Management Agency to keep the Manggarai sluice open in order to prevent flooding in the city'€™s west.

Ahok said the recent Pluit reservoir expansion in North Jakarta could accommodate a greater quantity of rainwater and thus, he argued, there was no need to protect areas near the presidential office by closing the sluice in Manggarai.

Ahok had been surprised to learn that the agency had continued to maintained a procedure introduced during the colonial era.

"I told them to keep the water gate open. I was angry when they closed the gate due to old procedure," Ahok told journalists at city hall on Wednesday.

Under the old procedure, in an effort to protect areas near the State Palace, the Manggarai sluice was to be closed when water had reached a certain level. Only the governor had the authority to order the sluice open.

The agency should not have continued to implement such an old procedure because the spatial conditions of the city had changed, rendering the procedure irrelevant, said Ahok, adding that the sluice could be closed during the dry season.

In response to the governor'€™s order, Water Management Agency head Teguh Hendarwan said that the Manggarai sluice would be opened when the water had reached 200 centimeters. He said, based on old procedure, the sluice would only be opened if the water level reached 750 to 900 cm. (bbn)(+)

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