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Anies’ deputy hopefuls to roll up sleeves for flood control
Jakarta’s future deputy governor will share a great responsibility with the governor amid criticism and complaints over flood prevention and mitigation.
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Vehicles pass through floodwater at the Bank Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Feb. 25. (Antara/Winda Wahyu Fariansih)
W
ith a string of widespread floods battering Jakarta since New Year’s Eve, the city’s future deputy governor will share a great responsibility with the governor amid criticism and complaints over flood prevention and mitigation.
“They say whoever the deputy governor is going to be, Jakarta will still experience floods. What’s important now is how big their political will is [...] to address the problem,” Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) Jakarta executive board secretary Elva Fahri Qolbina said while opening a public discussion on Friday.
During the event, Gerindra executive and House of Representatives lawmaker Ahmad Riza Patria and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) official Nurmansyah Lubis both shared their game plans to accompany Governor Anies Baswedan for his remaining 2.5 years of administration.
The two have been endorsed by their respective parties at the City Council to fill in the post left vacant 1.5 years ago by then-deputy governor Sandiaga Uno. The councilors have scheduled a plenary meeting for the election to take place later this month.
The two candidates offered the same solutions of allocating more funds for flood control infrastructure and vowed to improve communication between the city and the central government.
Riza said better urban planning by promoting more green public spaces while pushing for efforts to improve the city’s drainage system would be his key measures to manage Jakarta’s floods.
“Green public spaces in Jakarta are still far from the ideal standard, which is 30 percent of a city’s total area. Meanwhile, gutters and other water channels have not been improved optimally,” Riza said.
