City wants developer to revamp Melati Dam

JAKARTA. In exchange for a permit to build apartment buildings near Melati Reservoir in Central Jakarta, the city administration has authorized PT Intiland Development to revitalize the dam.

Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo recently said the company had presented its plan on dam management.

“I think it’s good that the firm will also manage the reservoir,” he said on Wednesday.

Jokowi said management of the reservoir was essential as it was part of the city’s flood mitigation infrastructure.

Jokowi said the firm had allocated around Rp 150 billion (US$14.85 million) for dam management, which costs around Rp 500 billion.

Meanwhile, Intiland corporate secretary Theresia Rustandi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday
that the Rp 150 billion in funds would be used to fix four water pumps in the dam and to procure six new pumps.

Theresia explained that her company planned to start the first stage of apartment construction on a 2-hectare plot of land in Kebon Melati that has been legally owned by the firm since the 1990s.

“We are finalizing the apartment building’s design and are waiting for the city administration to approve our reservoir revitalization project,” she said, adding that her company expected to begin construction next year.

She declined, however, to reveal whether the company had acquired more land in the area, saying that it was a private matter.

Wahyudi, a neighborhood unit in the area, said that the company had offered to buy the residents’ property to expand its project.

“Most of the residents rejected the offer because Rp 10 million per square-meter is too low. We want Rp 50 million per square-meter,” he said.

He added that he was not
aware of the city administration’s plan to revitalize Melati Dam, which was located right in front of his house.

“I have been living here for 43 years and floods have never reached my house,” he said.

“However, when the big floods hit Jakarta in January, for the first time in my life, I saw the dam overflow and water inundated my house.”  (The Jakarta Post)