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Jakarta: 'Normalisasi' and 'naturalisasi'
Instead of discussing possible solutions to Jakarta floods, nowadays, the public seem to be confused by terms of normalisasi (normalization) and naturalisasi (naturalization).
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Children play in the Ciliwung River in Kwitang, Central Jakarta, on Nov. 2, 2018. (The Jakarta Post/PJ Leo)
T
he long history of floods in Jakarta has been recorded since the early 19th century. The Dutch East Indies had established some facilities to reduce inundation areas near the city center. A prominent effort was the Kanal Banjir Barat (West Floodway). This facility was built to overcome increasing flood discharge due to massive tea plantations in the upstream area, especially Puncak in West Java. Other facilities such as revetments, small ponds and floodgates were also installed around the city.
Basic policies for flood countermeasures were implemented based on several studies. In 1973, the Netherlands Engineering Consultant (NEDECO) published the first master plan to overcome Jakarta flooding as a part of a project under the public works ministry. Since then, following studies have also suggested various solutions to Jakarta floods, including the “National Capital Integrated Coastal Development Study 2013-2014”.
From those studies, increasing capacity of the Ciliwung River to 500 cubic meters per second, equal to 50 years of flood cycles probability, has been raised as the main solution for Jakarta floods. In the upstream side, construction of the Ciawi and Sukamahi dams are still ongoing in West Java. However, instead of discussing possible solutions to Jakarta floods, nowadays, the public seem to be confused by terms of normalisasi(normalization) and naturalisasi (naturalization).
Recently, normalisasi has been used to describe the work of increasing a river’s capacity and the construction of revetments along the river channel. But Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has introduced the term naturalisasi,purportedly to make river works seem more nature-friendly, to meet the ecological function and purpose of the river to drain the water when a flood comes.
