Bolivia, Peru sign $500 mn deal for Lake Titicaca clean-up

Yahoo – AFP, January 8, 2016

Lake Titicaca, which is the highest in the world, at an altitude of 3,800 meters
(12,470 feet) above sea level, provides a habitat for a number of frogs, birds
and fish, including two species that have almost been wiped out (AFP Photo
/Aizar Raldes)

La Paz (AFP) - Bolivia and Peru agreed to provide more than $500 million towards cleaning up Lake Titicaca, whose polluted waters are home to some animals nearing extinction, a Bolivian environment official said.

The deal, which is meant to improve the lake's biodiversity, includes environmental management and recovery through to 2025.

Lake Titicaca, which is the highest in the world, at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,470 feet) above sea level, provides a habitat for a number of frogs, birds and fish, including two species that have almost been wiped out.

Bolivia's Environment and Water Minister Alexandra Moreira and her Peruvian counterpart Manuel Pulgar signed the agreement during a public event.

"For the short term we have a limit of $117 million and for the long term $400 million," said Moreira's advisor Sergio Arispe.

“It's a logistical matter we are trying to manage through 2025," he said.

Part of the waste in the lake is generated by the Bolivian city of El Alto, near La Paz, which is home to about 800,000 people.

Peru's minister stressed that the two countries are "already taking concrete actions such as investing in water treatment plants to address the main problems the lake is facing."

Jakarta to build 13 artificial lakes in 2012

The Jakarta Post, Thu, 10/06/2011

Apart from completing the construction of the East Flood Canal, Jakarta Administration has announced plans to build 13 artificial lakes in efforts to cope with annual flooding in the capital.

“We are still in the land acquisition process, and the construction work will be carried out in stages,” Jakarta Public Works Agency natural resources management chief Fakhrurrazi said Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that the lakes, the construction of which is expected to begin in 2012, would be built in several locations including Jagakarsa, Bintaro, Lebak Bulus and Marunda.

Fakhrurrazi said the agency would also propose a budget for policing and dredging the lakes, in addition to building lanes around them to prevent citizens to from building houses on their banks.

Neglected lakes to exacerbate flooding

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/12/2009 8:47 PM

Most small lakes, situ, are in a critical condition due to high sedimentation rates, putting thousands of people at risk of a “flash floods”, like the one that occurred at Situ Gintung last March.

A study by State Environment Ministry found that 15 small lakes in Jakarta, West Java and Banten will overflow if no action is taken to repair infrastructure. Rain is forecast for next week.

“Situ Ciledug and Situ Parigi in Tangerang and Situ Depok are considered the most susceptible to overflow,” Antung Deddy, deputy assistant minister for river and lake management, said Thursday.

He said thousands of people living near the three lakes were at risk.

Lakes serve as catchments during the rainy season, preventing flooding. They act as reservoirs during the dry season. However, many small lakes have been converted into residential or business estates.

“The main problem is the absence of a body to manage the lakes,” Antung said.

When the Situ Gintung embankment collapsed, a million cubic meters of water flooded the area, killing 100 people and destroying more than 300 houses.

Gintung lake damage report filed by subdistrict in 2007

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 04/05/2009 9:47 PM

Nearly two weeks after the Situ Gintung dam burst – killing nearly 100 residents - Cireundeu subdistrict head Chairul Sadudin revealed Sunday he had notified the flood management office near the lake of the damage to the Situ Gintung spillways in February 2007.

“We wrote a statement to the office. Lake water was overflowing the spillways every time it rained heavily, which became a concern for local residents,” Chairul said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

In the report, he added, the subdistrict administration also called on the relevant agencies to clean up the area around the lake and fortify the lake walls.

Related Article:

Mayor to pay temporary housing rent for Situ Gintung survivors

Govt to reduce size of Situ Gintung: VP

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/31/2009 4:28 PM

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday that the government will rebuild the Situ Gintung dam, but on a smaller scale to reduce the risk posed by the lake. Construction is expected to be completed by October.

The decision was made during a closed meeting chaired by Kalla and attended by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Home Minister Mardiyanto, Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah, Banten Governor Ratu Atut Choisiah and Jakarta Deputy Governor Prijanto.

“The lake will be rebuilt but it has to be safe and there should be no risk at all,” Kalla told a press conference after the meeting, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. He said the lake was important as water catchment area to prevent flood.

Kalla said the government would reinforce the lake using concrete for its spillway.

Heavy rains last week led to the collapse of the almost 70-year-old sluice gate and its reinforcing wall on Friday, killing at least 99 people and destroying about 600 nearby houses.

Uncontrolled housing and development in the area reduced the size of the lake, which was fed by Pesanggrahan River, from 31 hectares in 1930 to less than 21 hectares at the time of the disaster. (dre)

Scores still missing after dam bursts

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Jakarta | Sun, 03/29/2009 11:52 AM

Attention shifted to caring for homeless and hungry survivors after a dam burst outside the Indonesian capital, sending a wall of water crashing into homes and killing at least 91 people. More than 100 others are still missing, but hope dimmed Sunday of finding them alive.

Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers have been digging through the mud and debris, some using hoes or their bare hands, while other rescuers scoured the banks of bloated rivers.

But so far, they have turned up mostly bodies.

Days of heavy rain caused a large lake bordering a low-lying residential area southwest of Jakarta to overflow early Friday, sending water cascading over the rim with a thunderous rumble. Hours later, a huge section of the earth wall gave away, and a 10-foot (three-meter) -high wave gushed through Cirendeu, overturning cars and uprooting trees.

National Disaster Coordinating Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono acknowledged that prospects of finding anyone alive in the muck were dimming by the hour, "though there's always the possibility that someone is alive trapped under the rubble."

Search-and-rescue operations would continue for at least a week, he said.

Some attention, meanwhile, shifted to providing food and shelter to the more than 1,600 people left homeless. Many were camping out in the hall of a nearby university, others in hastily erected tent camps.

Kardono said there was no shortage of supplies - instant noodles, baby food and bottled water - but with so many resources devoted to recovery efforts, the immediate problem was in distribution.

"What we urgently need are mattresses, blankets, clothes," said Abdul Hamid, one the victims. "I don't have anything anymore, all I had was swept away by the water. I don't have clothes for my children and my grandchildren."

Some residents blamed authorities, saying the 76-year-old dam, built in the Dutch colonial era, had been poorly maintained. They said blocked spillways had led to repeated flooding over the years, weakening it in several points.

The Ministry of Public Works promised to investigate.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a nation of 235 million.

More than 40 people were killed in the capital after rivers burst their banks two years ago. Critics said rampant overdevelopment, poor city planning and clogged drainage canals were partly to blame.

Tangerang sees four lakes disappear due to buildings

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Banten | Mon, 02/23/2009 2:24 PM 

At least four of the existing nine small lakes, or situ in newly formed South Tangerang municipality have gone missing due the administration's lack of control over illegal occupation by local residents and housing developers.

Kusparmadi, a planology lecturer at the Indonesian Institute of Technology (ITI), who recently made an inventory of the lakes, said there were originally nine small lakes.

They are Situ Tujuh Muara and Situ Kedaung in Pamulang district; Situ Parigi in Pondok Aren district; Situ Rawa Kutub in North Serpong district; Situ Gintung, Situ Legoso, Situ Rumpang, Situ Bungur and Situ Rawa Antap in Ciputat district.

"After we made an inventory of the lakes through satellite imaging, we found Situ Legoso, Situ Rumpang, Situ Rawa Kutub and Situ Rawa Antap no longer existed," he said, adding the lakes could no longer been seen from satellite monitoring.

He called on the South Tangerang municipal administration to take measures to tackle the problem, saying the lakes played an important role in the local ecology as water catchment areas.

Yulianto, head of lake matters at the Tangerang regency administration's Public Works Agency, said he was aware of the disappearing lakes.

"The lakes were initially just left in neglect, so long-term sedimentation turned them shallow. And since there was no control by the administration, local residents took over parts of the lakes and began erecting houses one by one," he said.

He added the illegal occupation of the lake had reduced the capacity of the land to absorb rainwater, which in turn contributed to floods.

"I think this is homework for the new administration to work on."

South Tangerang is a spin-off from Tangerang regency. The municipality covers the four districts of Serpong, Setu, Pamulang and Ciputat.

The districts are home to housing complexes like BSD City, Gading Serpong, Alam Sutera and Villa Dago Pamulang.