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Pandemic puts Jakarta on shaky ground with flood mitigation
The Jakarta administration has promised to allocate enough funds for flood control and won’t allow for more funds to be siphoned off, after city funding this year was redirected to help the nation deal with the pandemic.
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People ride a kayak around the Pantai Mutiara housing complex in North Jakarta on June 7 after a flood hit the area. The flooding began after a levee was breached, allowing sea water to inundate the area. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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OVID-19 has pushed worst-hit Jakarta to the edge of a budget cliff this year, with city revenue estimated to drop by over 30 percent, complicating efforts to mitigate flooding as the wet season arrives in full force.
But the Jakarta administration promised it would not allow for more funds to be siphoned off from flood control efforts, after city funding was redirected to help the nation deal with the pandemic.
Speaking after a plenary meeting to discuss the revised 2020 city budget last week, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said there would be "no change to budget allocation” for flood control.
The Jakarta administration has seen this year’s budget cut by nearly 30 percent, from Rp 87.9 trillion (US$6.02 billion) to Rp 63.2 trillion. This has forced massive funding reallocation from the capital’s priority programs and activities to the handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Among those affected is the city’s crucial flood control budget, which was slashed in half.
But the central government has promised Rp 3.26 trillion in loans this year to the Jakarta administration through the national economic recovery (PEN) fund. Some Rp 1.1 trillion from this loan would be used to fund projects related to flood control, restoring the funds that were cut back.
Jakarta Water Resources Agency head Juaini Yusuf said this year's budget would be used for routine dredging of rivers and reservoirs, revitalizing existing pumps and procuring another 19 mobile pumps and 65 floating pumps, as well as planning embankment design.
