"We are persuading victims of floods to relocate to safer places. Once the residents of the Pluit Reservoir vacate their homes, we will be able to normalise a dam in the region," said the governor.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Jakarta`s Governor, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), has urged people living along the bank of the Pluit Reservoir to relocate.

"We are persuading victims of floods to relocate to safer places. Once the residents of the Pluit Reservoir vacate their homes, we will be able to normalise a dam in the region," said the governor on Friday.

He said the Jakarta administration will continue to persuade the residents of the Pluit Reservoir. "We will continue to persuade them. We hope they will relocate soon," he said.

The governor stressed that efforts to normalise a dam should be realised soon so that in the future, the region will not be affected by floods.

"Dredging and normalisation programmes will not be affected if people do not relocate," Jokowi noted.

Jokowi is planning to relocate residents along the bank of the Pluit Reservoir to flat houses in Marunda, North Jakarta. About 240 families will be relocated in the first stage.

There are about 7,000 families or 17,000 residents who live in the area. As of January 23, only 67 families or 234 people had expressed their interest to relocate.

Jokowi has urged village and sub district heads to relocate settlers from river banks in Jakarta to safer places.

"We will carry out normalisation programmes along the Ciliwung, Pesanggrahan, Angke and Sunter rivers. I hope residents living along the banks of these rivers will relocate soon," Jokowi said on Wednesday.

Therefore, Tokowi has urged village and sub district heads to persuade people to shift their homes.

"Authorities should be persuasive in their approach. Residents should realise that they will be violating the rules of the country if they continue to live along the banks of rivers," Jokowi said.

He said if officials fail to persuade residents to relocate, working units of the village administration (UKPD) should file a report.

"If officials have difficulties persuading people to relocate, they should inform me. I hope normalisation of rivers in Jakarta will begin in April or May this year," said Jokowi.

In addition, Jokowi said after the rivers are normalised, the UKPD, in their respective areas, should continue to inspect the rivers.

Jokowi met 26 sub district heads and 75 village chiefs at the City Hall and informed them about his renormalisation plans.

The Mayor of Central Jakarta, Syaifullah, North Jakarta`s Mayor, Bambang Sugiono, West Jakarta`s Mayor, Burhanuddin, South Jakarta`s Mayor, Anas Effendi, and East Jakarta`s Mayor, Krisdianto, were also present at the meeting(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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