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Ahok questions Agus' flood mitigation stance in first debate
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Debate moderator Ira Koesno and Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pairs Agus Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat and Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno take a selfie after the first official gubernatorial candidate debate in Jakarta on Jan. 13. (JP/Seto Wardhana.)
J
akarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama criticized Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono's promise to not relocate the residents living on river banks if elected during the first official gubernatorial candidate debate on Friday.
The incumbent governor also expressed disapproval of Agus' idea to make Jakarta a floating city to mitigate flooding.
"We understand that you want to be governor. I hope that anyone who becomes governor can educate the residents, not fool them. We want to win but it shall be in an elegant way so the people can be smart," Ahok said during the debate.
Previously, Agus' running mate Sylviana Murni said that Ahok's administration had arbitrarily evicted the residents.
This was proven by a recent court ruling in favor of Bukit Duri residents in a lawsuit against their eviction, which was conducted by Ahok's administration, she said.
Ahok responded to the statement of his former subordinate by saying that it was impossible for him to normalize the river without relocating residents who built their houses on river banks.
"I don't understand how can we normalize the river, the original length of which was 30 meters but now became five meters, without tearing down the shabby homes [occupying the river banks]," Ahok said. (dmr)
