Jakarta, March 6 -- The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry inspected upstream areas of rivers in West Java province on Thursday and uncovered alleged violations of environmental laws, which are believed to have contributed to recent flooding in Jakarta and surrounding areas over the past two days.
The ministry installed four environmental monitoring boards on lands where functions had been altered, rendering them unable to retain water. The landowners had been using these areas without obtaining the necessary environmental permits.
Indonesian Environmental Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said that 33 other locations in the upstream areas, located in Puncak Cisarua of Bogor regency, also showed signs of environmental law violat...