PRESIDENT INSTRUCTS RECONSTRUCTION OF SITU GINTUNG DAM

Tangerang, March 27 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed the relevant authorities to reconstruct the Situ Gintung dam in Ciputat, southeast Jakarta, which burst early Friday morning killing at least 35 people.

The President issued the instruction when he inspected the disaster site on Friday.
"The burst dam must be rebuilt. We will also design the new structure in a proper way so that it will not cause any further public concern," the President told the press when observing conditions near the broken dam.
In the disaster, a 250-meter-long section of the dam broke down allowing huge volumes of dam water to sweep over residential areas. It occurred at around 2 am Friday following several hours of heavy rains on Thursday night.
Besides instructing the rebuilding of a dam of better quality, the president also said the government would help residents whose homes were damaged rebuild their dwellings.
"The government, as it used to be, will help residents reconstruct their damaged houses," Yudhoyono said.
The head of state hoped that the central and local governments would properly coordinate their efforts in the reconstruction of the Situ Gintung Dam so that the emergency response given by both sides would proceed smoothly.
"Our system has since the beginning been on the right track. Before I arrived here, the vice president, the chief people's welfare minister and others have also come here to carry out their respective tasks and functions in the framework of their emergency response duties," the president said.
Search and rescue officers were trying to rescue residents being trapped in their submerged houses. The survivors were evacuated to higher grounds near the University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta (UMJ) campus.
The floodwaters still reached a height of one to two meters late Friday morning.
Some survivors said that the disaster reminded them of a deadly tsunami which devastated Aceh Province and Nias Island on December 26, 2004