Aceh – Indonesia, Mayor of Banda Aceh, Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal, inspected several drainage construction and road maintenance projects across Banda Aceh City on Friday (02/10/2026).
The visited locations included the improvement of the Khairil Anwar drainage channel, maintenance of Jalan Sisingamangaraja, improvement of the Lamgugop drainage channel, maintenance of Jalan Kebun Raja, and construction of the Lamdom drainage system.
In addition, the top official in Banda Aceh City, accompanied by heads of relevant Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD), also visited the Waste Collecting Point (WCP) in Gampong Alue Deah Teungoh, Rusunawa Keudah, and Gampong Lingke.
When interviewed, Illiza stated that the inspection was carried out as part of the city administration’s efforts to anticipate potential hydrometeorological disasters that could recur during heavy rainfall.
“Our mitigation effort involves cleaning the environment, drainage channels, and garbage throughout the city. This is part of our preparations for facing hydrometeorological risks. Earlier this morning, together with the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), we also held a community cleanup,” Illiza said.
Furthermore, Illiza explained that throughout this year, her administration has been working on channel upgrades, drainage construction, and road maintenance to help manage water runoff during high-intensity rainfall.
“In addition to inspecting roads that we have repaired—now reaching 90% completion—we also noticed that our drainage channels still contain sediment and trash that must be cleared. This reflects public behavior that we must continuously improve,” she added.
On the other hand, Illiza emphasized the importance of changing public habits regarding cleanliness. According to her, the high consumption of products with plastic packaging, cans, and other materials must be accompanied by awareness to properly dispose of and sort waste in designated places.
“When a city has high waste consumption, but people fail to dispose of trash in the proper places, the consequence is that we have to work extra hard. We are also encouraging community-based waste management through waste banks. Earlier, we inspected the WCP to observe firsthand waste sorting activities and the utilization of land for food cultivation carried out by the community,” Illiza explained.
Illiza urged the public to join hands in maintaining environmental cleanliness, especially as Banda Aceh City has entered the rainy season.
“Let us clean our surroundings and our city, as the rainy season has arrived. We are also constructing and upgrading drainage channels to prevent flooding. This is supported by five Early Warning System (EWS) flood detection locations, which help monitor and minimize the impacts of heavy rainfall. Hopefully, severe flooding will not occur,” Illiza said.(*/kt)