30 city schools prone to flooding: Councilor<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): At least 30 schools in the city are prone to
\nflooding, a city councilor said yesterday.<\/p>\n
City councilor Soeparmo, head of Commission E for welfare
\naffairs, told The Jakarta Post that over the last few years most
\nof these schools had been regularly flooded during the monsoon.<\/p>\n
\"The schools are mostly located in North Jakarta. The land
\nthere is sinking, possibly due to the effects of the sea water
\nintrusion in the area,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The 30 schools include SD (elementary school) Kapuk, SD Kali
\nBaru, SD Kapuk Muara and SD Pademangan in North Jakarta; SD Duren
\nSawit in East Jakarta; SD Pesanggrahan and SD Pasar Minggu in
\nSouth Jakarta; and SD Sumur Batu in Central Jakarta; SMP 184
\n(junior high school) in Pasar Rebo and SMUN 64 (senior high
\nschool) in Cipayung, both in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Reports say at least 230 of the 2,593 public elementary
\nschools in Jakarta are in poor condition due to a lack of
\nmaintenance, and need renovating.<\/p>\n
The real figure could be higher as many public school
\nprincipals have not reported the condition of their school
\nbuildings to the responsible bodies.<\/p>\n
Most of these schools had to be abandoned because the city did
\nnot have sufficient funds to renovate them.<\/p>\n
\"Especially now, when there are going to be budget cuts here
\nand there due to the monetary turmoil,\" Soeparmo said.<\/p>\n
Until now there are no evacuation sites ready for students in
\ncase their schools are flooded.<\/p>\n
\"Usually students are given days off until the school is dry
\nagain,\" Soeparmo, who is also head of the city's education and
\nteaching agency, said.<\/p>\n
\"Usually, once a school is flooded it is hard to pump the
\nwater out. So it can take days or even weeks to dry.\"<\/p>\n
Two schools in North Jakarta, SMP 122 in Warakas and SD Koja,
\nwere flooded for more than a week recently.<\/p>\n
When interviewed by TV journalists, students from these
\nschools said they liked floods because they meant skipping
\nclasses.<\/p>\n
\"I like floods. We can play in the water... and I can catch
\nas much baby frogs as I want,\" Imam, a Koja elementary school
\nstudent, said.<\/p>\n
R. Sitindjak, head of the flood post at the city public order
\noffice, said the two schools had been routinely hit by floods
\nover the past two years.<\/p>\n
\"We have warned those schools to take precautions to deal with
\nthe flood problem. So far it is hard to deal with because we
\ndon't have enough equipment, such as water pumps, to drain the
\nwater away from flooded areas,\" he said. (edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/30-city-schools-prone-to-flooding-councilor-1447893297",
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