"The governor's recent plan to construct infiltration wells is ineffective. He must instead continue the river normalization and naturalization programs," Marsudi said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The speaker also urged Baswedan to focus on normalization programs before devising other flood control measures and assessing flooded areas in the city instead of continuing the construction of infiltration wells.
The flooding seen in some areas in the city following rain has proved that the construction of infiltration wells might be not very effective as a flood control measure in the city despite the program's huge budget, he said.
"The recent flood in Cengkareng and Grogol must be first addressed. The authorities must focus on their duty because if floods continue, then we have wasted our budget," the speaker remarked.
Earlier on Tuesday, several areas in Jakarta were flooded after rains lashed the city for more than two hours, disrupting traffic as some roads were water-logged and rendered impassable.
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As of Wednesday afternoon, the Jakarta Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency reported flooding in 102 neighborhood units in some parts of the city, with some areas recording water levels of 90 cm.
"Inundation is reported in 102 neighborhood units or about 0.335 percent of the province's 30,470 neighborhood units, and one road in the city," the agency's disaster data and information center head, M Insyaf, said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The agency also reported an increase in the number of residents affected by the flooding from 815 people, as per reports at noon, to 1,194 people at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, he added.
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Translator: Ricky Prayoga, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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