Jakarta and Rotterdam to cooperate on flood management

The Jakarta Provincial Government, will work with Rotterdam City Government on flood handling in the capital city of Indonesia. The agreement comes under the Jakarta-Rotterdam Minute of Agreement (MoA) in the water management sector for period of 2013-2015. It is also a continuation from a similar cooperation, which has stood since 2009.

The agreement will look at the operational management of mud-dredging equipment and knowledge exchange in flood handling master plan preparations. The handover of mud-dredging equipment from the Rotterdam City Government to the Jakarta Provincial Government first occurred in 2009.

“For the period up until 2015, the cooperation will focus on two things,” said Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, after the MoA signing with Rotterdam Mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb. “First is human resources capacity building in the management of integrated urban water resources management through training programmes and second is the exchange of information and knowledge about threats and strategic issues faced by delta cities.”

For cooperation in the water resources sector, Jakarta and Rotterdam will exchange information and experiences between the Jakarta Technical Department and Rotterdam Technical Department, supported by technical ministries from the governments of each country.

Rotterdam Mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, spoke positively about the agreement at the signing. He asserted that information exchange between the two cities on good flood handling could help Jakarta successfully deal with the dangers of flooding.

“I believe Jakarta can significantly improve its flood handling,” said Mayor Aboutaleb. “Jakarta is a strong city but we believe that we can help in terms of information exchange.”

Part of the cooperation will include the Jakarta Provincial Government sending staff members to Rotterdam to learn about water resources management, spatial planning and infrastructure, as well as port development.

Governor Joko Widodo admitted that, despite plans already existing, Jakarta was late in improving flood handling. It is predicted that Jakarta needs about 10-15 years to overcome flood problems in the city, while it is hoped that the effort will gain support from other provinces in Indonesia.