PUPR Ministry repairing breached embankment in Demak

Demak (ANTARA) - The Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry has commenced repair works on the left-side embankment of Wulan River in Demak District, Central Java Province, following leakage-triggered flooding.

"The repair of the breached embankment began on Friday (February 9) afternoon. We are using heavy equipment to carry out the repair," PUPR Ministry's Director General of Water Resources, Arthur Lombogia, remarked during his review of the repair work on Saturday.

Some four thousand houses in Demak have been inundated since Monday (February 5) following leakages in the Wulan River embankment.

According to Lombogia, the ministry had fielded three standard excavators, two amphibious excavators, and a long-armed excavator to execute repairs at two spots of the embankment.

Lombogia explained that his office is currently prioritizing patching the leakages in a bid to prevent another wave of floods from hitting the locals' residences.

"We are aiming to finish the repair works by Monday (February 12)," he stated.

The director general then noted that it was quite a challenging task for the ministry to conduct the repair, given that the heavy equipment and materials had to be transported through the embankment and river.

"We are also utilizing amphibious excavators to shunt the materials required for repairing the embankment," he pointed out.

Due to the high level of water discharge, he emphasized that officers should identify the safest measures for properly patching the leakages.

Lombogi further noted that the PUPR Ministry had also prepared tools, including 12 water-suctioning pump machines, with a capacity of 500 liters per second, for enabling the floodwaters to subside.

He said that five of the pump machines had been operated to handle and reduce the amount of water released due to the leakages.