Banjarmasin, S Kalimatan (ANTARA) - A member of Banjarmasin City Regional Legislature (DPRD) Zainal Hakim said that the city must maximize river dredging to curb increasingly frequent rob or tidal flooding.
"We cannot merely rely on pump houses and sluice gates to overcome tidal flooding," he said here on Wednesday.
Zainal said rivers in the city are currently shallow. When high tides occur, they cannot accomodate the maximum.
Even though pump houses and sluice gates technology are being provided, they cannot solve the problem optimally.
"Because the river water level is high, it overflows everywhere," he said.
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The legislator expressed his support to the Mayor of Banjarmasin H Muhammad Yamin HR and Deputy Mayor Hj Ananda who want to increase river normalization program to be resilient to flooding.
He suggested repairing water channel or drainage in several areas, especially those prone to tidal flooding. Also in residential areas that do not have water drainage channels.
He also asked the city government to take firm action against buildings that disrupt drainage functions.
"In addition to being clogged and blocked, there are often buildings that make drainage not funtion optimally. Well, this is also something that must be considered," he said.
According to him, anticipating flooding in addition to connected canals, it is necessary to create water reservoir in several areas of the city.
"Such as in Sungai Andai, then Pulau Insan Japri Zamzam. These locations can later add to tourist attraction in Banjarmasin," he said.
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