A

s part of an effort to ensure that groundwater and waste water at buildings in the capital are managed in accordance with regulations, the Jakarta administration has deployed a special team to examine dozens of buildings in industrial areas in East Jakarta and West Jakarta.

Governor Anies Baswedan visited Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung (JIEP) in East Jakarta on Monday to mark the start of inspections. He said that at least 80 buildings in industrial areas in Cengkareng and Kalideres in West Jakarta and Pulogadung and Cakung in East Jakarta would be examined from July 9 to 20.

“Starting today [Monday], we will inspect industrial buildings to see whether they have infiltration wells, waste water treatment systems and groundwater treatment systems, as regulated under prevailing laws,” Anies said, adding that the administration had sent warning letters to the buildings’ management staff to inform them about the inspections.

The letters were sent out on June 29.

The inspections will be carried out by a special team comprising around 120 officials from, among other agencies, the city’s spatial planning agency, the environment agency and the industry and energy agency.

The mayors of each municipality are expected to help the team.

Anies said he hoped that the inspections could change the way Jakarta residents manage groundwater and waste water.

Similar actions were carried out from March 12 to 21 in the capital’s business district. Eighty high-rise buildings located along Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman were examined, and the administration found that the majority of the buildings had violated the law, including Gubernatorial Decree No. 20/2013 on infiltration wells.

The findings from the inspections in March showed that only 40 of the examined buildings had infiltration wells. Of the 40, only one was built in accordance with the decree.

The inspections also found that the majority of the buildings did not manage waste water properly.

The administration had informed the buildings’ management staff about its findings and asked them to update their systems, or else it would revoke their building permits.

Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency head Benny Agus Chandra said separately that 68 management teams out of 80 in the Sudirman-Thamrin area were asked to fulfill the requirement of having infiltration wells and systems that properly managed groundwater and waste water.

They were informed through letters sent out on April 30.

Benny explained that the management at 69 buildings had devised plans to update their systems.

Four buildings that previously violated regulations, namely Astra Tower, Le Meridien Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Sultan Hotel and Residence, met all requirements after making changes, he further said.

“We will send second warning letters to the building management teams that have yet to show up and prepare their corrective action plans as of today. We will definitely take firm actions against those who fail to comply with the regulations, in accordance with the law,” Benny added.