In a bid to convince residents to install vertical drains to help mitigate floods, the Jakarta administration is offering incentives to those who build them in the yards of their homes.

Togas Braini, the head of the geology division at the Jakarta Industry and Energy Agency, said the administration is aiming to have 1.8 million vertical drains installed across the city to prevent flooding.

“Ideally, if the figure is reached there will be no more pools or there will be zero runoff as Pak Governor [Anies] said,” he said on Thursday as reported by Tribunnews.com.

The city administration plans to give residents who have installed the water catchment systems in their yards discounts on their land and building taxes.

However, he did not give details on how big the discounts would be.

The city administration, Togas said, was considering expanding the incentive program by offering discounts on other taxes, since residents whose taxable value of property was less than Rp 1 billion (US$70,071) were already exempt from paying land and building tax.

“We are formulating the incentives. We are in discussions with relevant offices to work on the gubernatorial decree aimed to be issued this year,” Togas added. (das).