North Jakarta was hit by a really bad case of banjir last week after incessant rain in the city. The flood was made much worse when a levee collapsed in the Sunter River.
Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is sure that the levee did not collapse due to rising water levels. Instead, Ahok smells deliberate foul play by contractors working in the area.
“This is truly disgraceful. I want to ask, logically, does it make sense for contractors to dig in the river with their heavy equipment as the rain is falling? How dare they,” Ahok said at City Hall today, as quoted by Merdeka.
Ahok said he grew suspicious when North Jakarta was inundated in flood last week, given that the Katulampa dam had normal water levels and that there was no high tide from the sea.
“Now, if you want to poke a hole somewhere, the Public Works Agency said there needs to be an initial analysis, right? Were the contractors using their brains? They go in to dig, and they perforate the levee. Don’t they know the levee was built with cement? Can cement dry quickly? This is the rainy season. It’s better not to dig,” Ahok said angrily.
Ahok did not reveal the contractors who allegedly sabotaged the levee in the Sunter River.
