"The assistance from South Korea will help the city to treat the water in the West Flood Canal and the Krendang River around Kalijodo," Ahok said.

At present, Jakarta relies on raw water from the Jatiluhur Dam in West Jakarta to be turned into drinkable water. Tap-water operators have said it is not economically feasible to turn the water from Jakarta’s rivers into drinkable water because of heavy pollution.

Jakarta has 12 major rivers, whose upstream areas are mostly in the mountainous areas of West Java. The rivers are Ciliwung, Mookervaart, Angke, Pesanggrahan, Krukut, Grogol, Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jati Kramat, Baru Barat and Baru Timur. The city also has four main man-made canals: the East Flood Canal, the West Flood Canal, Cengkareng Drain and Cakung Drain.

The governor said he received an offer of cooperation from South Korea and would start to make follow-up inquiries into the offer next week.

Jakarta Water Management Agency chairman Teguh Hendarwan said that in preparation for the water treatment project, the city administration needed to deepen the rivers by up to five to six meters from the water’s surface and install sheet piles into the rivers.  

"We will dredge the rivers by five or six meters. The purification can be held after the sheet piles are installed," Teguh told thejakartapost.com on Friday, adding that in the West Canal Flood, near Kalijodo, the agency had finished installing the sheet piles.

Tegung was unable to explain the details of the project. "We don’t know the details. Maybe South Korea will help us in technology," Teguh said.

Teguh said the administration had also received an offer from the Netherlands to treat water from other rivers. (bbn)

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