The relocation of residents from east side wet section of Pluit Reservoir, North Jakarta, Penjaringan Urban Village, Penjaringan Sub-District, to Muara Baru Flat, had to be delayed. The reason is because the two blocks of the flat which reserved for the relocated residents, are already full.

Overall, Muara Baru Flat has 12 blocks with a total of 1,200 units. Four blocks are already occupied since 2013. In the same year, eight more blocks were built by the developer as their obligation to make public facilities (fasum).

Currently, two of eight blocks have been handed over to Jakarta Housing and Government’s Building Department for the relocation of residents from the west side and wet section of Pluit Reservoir east side. The remaining six blocks with a capacity of 600 units have not been handed over yet by the developer.

“We’ve been informed that the flat units are already full. So, we’re waiting for the readiness of the flat units for the next action,” stated Head of Penjaringan Sub-District, Rusdiyanto, Tuesday (12/16).

According to Head of Region I Flat Management Unit (UPRS), Maharyadi, the two blocks which have been handed over by the developer are Block 11 and 12. These blocks have a capacity of 200 units and fully occupied. In details, 128 units for residents who were relocated from Pluit Reservoir west side and 72 units for residents who were relocated from Pluit Reservoir east side.

“We are still waiting for the handover of the other six blocks from the developer. I’ll tell the developer to speed up the handover process because they are needed for the relocation,” he uttered.

Daeng Mile (65), a resident of RT 19/17 Penjaringan, admitted that he has heard the information about the flat which intended for the relocation is already full. This condition makes the residents worry because Pluit Reservoir dredging has been started on Monday (12/1). They feared the dredging would affect the construction of their houses, which stood atop the reservoir, as well as the soil foundation that is prone to landslide.

“We worry the reservoir water would overflow during rainy season. Surely, this condition is very dangerous. We don’t want the incident in Banjarnegara that killed many people to happen here,” he expressed.

Meanwhile, Head of Jakarta Rivers and Reservoirs Normalization Implementation, Heriyanto, acknowledged that with the dredging Pluit Reservoir, the houses stood atop the reservoir become prone to landslide. The situation is getting risky since the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has estimated that the peak of rainy season would occur in January.

“We have completed the dredging on the flow around Pluit Reservoir pump house. But, for the normalization on the east side, we are still waiting for the relocation,” he said.