Air Belanda Indonesia - Netherlands Water Partnership

Urgency offers opportunities
“The authorities in Jakarta are very well aware of the
fact that we need to start work now, otherwise an
area with millions of inhabitants will end up under
water. At the same time that great urgency also offers
opportunities. Firstly there is the oppor tunity to
ensure an integrated approach now. We have passed
the time for ad hoc measures.
A second opportunity lies in the fact that Jakarta is
booming. On the one hand that enormous influx of
people and the asso ciated urbanisation is a cause of
the problems. On the other hand it gives enormous
dynamism and great economic strength. A great
deal of income is therefore being generated. The
land reclamation and the toll road which are part
of the plans could help the project to be affordable.
The new land could generate billions of dollars in
income.“
Dircke believes that one of the biggest challenges
for Jakarta is to integrate public and private efforts,
thereby balancing all the interests. “The magic word
is ‘public-private partnership’, but nobody can do
magic in real life. It’s just about hard work. We have
that tradition in the Netherlands in our battle with
the water, and we are keen to provide that energy
here too.
‘The authorities in Jakarta
are very well aware of the
fact that we need to start
work now, otherwise an area
with millions of inhabitants
will end up under water’
The time is now
The Netherlands has built a society which has learnt
to live with the threat of water: with district water
boards, with laws and regulations, with political and
public support. Dircke says: “That combination keeps
our country liveable. But it has taken us centuries,
and the delta works took decades. We are allowing
another century for the next phase. That time is
not available in Jakarta. There it has to be done
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right now”
Year of truth
2007 was a disastrous year for Jakarta. But the devastating events did
mean that a lot of obstacles were pushed aside and that the problems
were immediately tackled with much greater urgency. Jan Jaap Brinkman
of Deltares led a consortium of Dutch organisations that carried out
research into an integrated solution. “During the wet season in 1996,
2002 and 2006 there were serious floods. That led to a host of measures.
But in 2007 the city flooded again, even though it had not rained at all.
It was found that the ground had sunk to a critical level, and at high tide
the water cannot leave the city. During the spring tide the water poured
over the sea defences into the city. We could calculate which spring tides
would flood the city, and reported as early as mid-2007 that it would
happen on three days in October, November and December. That forecast
turned out to be correct. This created the momentum for coming up with
scenarios for sustainable solutions and tackling the problems with an
integrated approach.”
Jakarta is now convinced that the solution lies in a robust dike in the bay
of Jakarta, which is expected to cost around five billion euros. The dike
will offer room for new road and rail links, and could therefore relieve
Jakarta’s serious traffic jam problems. These new transport routes are
also important for the construction of around three thousand hectares
of new land by private investors which is already planned.
16 • Air Belanda Indonesia