Yogya (KU) – Inundation process causes slums to grow fast. In Semarang, slums increases significantly from year to year. This goes along with the widening areas of settlement in the capital of Central Java Province. “The level of settlement having inundation in Semarang is as high as 47.68%,” said Drs. Moh. Gamal Rindarjono, M.Si., in his doctoral promotion exam of Geography Study Program, Saturday (5/6).
According to the lecturer of Geography Department of Sebelas Maret University, inundation in Semarang happens in the rainy season. It is not only caused by the relatively low land of the city, but also the reclamation of water pools, in addition to the drainage system that follows the flow of the Semarang River.
Gamal said that the formation of slum is generally caused by two factors, aging process and compaction process. In Indonesia, it is usually the aging process. The aging happens because of the older age of the building which leads to the damage in the building. “My research in Semarang proved that buildings that get damaged due to aging are rarely found,” he added. He mentioned that in downtown Semarang, building damage is caused by aging while in suburban Semarang by reclamation. The inundation here is caused by reclamation of swamp and river landfill. “In the rainy season, water flows everywhere and finally reaches the settlement in reclamation areas,” said Gamal, adding that inundation caused 54.3% of settlements to become slums.
Delivered by the man born in Purwokerto, 3 August 1964, that slums in Semarang showed the decreasing condition of the city's environment, indicated by poor and inadequate public facilities from year to year in addition to the higher prevalence of epidemics, such as dengue fever, diarrhea, and skin diseases.