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Cash-strapped Bekasi puts off river restoration until 2020
A lack of funds has forced the administration of Bekasi in West Java, one of Jakarta’s satellite cities, to delay by another year the overdue restoration of its shrinking and often overflowing river
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span>A lack of funds has forced the administration of Bekasi in West Java, one of Jakarta’s satellite cities, to delay by another year the overdue restoration of its shrinking and often overflowing river.
The Bekasi River, which originates in the hilly Puncak area in West Java and empties into the Java Sea, plays a vital role in the life of people along its densely populated basin. The local tap water supplies rely on it as do farmers for irrigation.
The restoration will be implemented in 2020 in collaboration between the central and local governments. The Public Works and Housing Ministry will be in charge of the dredging and widening and building structures, while the city administration will acquire the necessary land.
The ministry will assign the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BBWSCC), which is currently implementing the normalization of Jakarta’s Ciliwung River, for the task.
Restoration of the Bekasi River is long overdue. Office chief Bambang Hidayah said the river had neither been dredged nor widened in the past 15 years.
Consequently, the 100-kilometer river often bursts its banks and inundates residential areas downstream. In the rainy season, the river is unable to properly accommodate the streams from the main tributary rivers the Cikeas and Cileungsi.
“We will dredge it and revitalize its flood dikes, which have been left unattended for a long time. The river has become shallower and shallower,” he told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
It will take at least three years to restore the river, beginning with the land acquisition, which may meet obstructions as often happens elsewhere.
“The river runs through housing complexes and industrial estates so the acquisition process may be complicated. We’ve yet to calculate the total area of land we need to widen the river,” Bambang said.
The government is still calculating how much the project will cost or how it will be split between the local and central governments.
Anjar Budiono, the technical director for the Bekasi Highways and Water Resources Agency, said the BBWSCC planned to revitalize a 20-km stretch of the river — the part that bisects the city.
The river’s current width varies between 25 and 45 meters, too narrow to direct streams coming from the Cikeas and Cileungsi during the rainy season.
Anjar calculated that the ideal width would be between 60 and 70 m. In addition, some 20 m will be needed to build flood embankments that will also function as riverside roads.
Anjar said the Bekasi administration still could not meet BBWSCC’s request for speedy land acquisition because of financial problems.
Bambang insisted that the BBWSCC could not afford another delay and suggested that the city try to obtain financial assistance from the ministry to get going.
As an initial step, the government has discussed the plans with the heads of the six subdistricts the project will cover: Bantargebang, East Bekasi, Jati Asih, North Bekasi, Rawa Lumbu and South Bekasi.
The discussions have met with a positive response from residents. Herlinawati, a resident of Vila Nusa Indah 1 housing complex in North Bekasi, who would be affected by the project, said she did not mind if her family had to relocate for the public good.
The mother-of-two recalled a hard time when the river burst its banks and her house was inundated on May 11, destroying her cell phone and TV.
“The floodwater was about 1 m deep. I hope the project will solve the [flooding] problem,” the 46-year-old said. (das)
