City struggles to return to normal<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Life in the capital began to return to normal on Monday as
\nfloods in various parts of the city continued to recede despite
\nthe heavy rain that fell in the morning. But it would obviously
\nstill be a long time before the city could really resume business
\nas usual.<\/p>\n
Major shopping centers like Roxy Mas and Mangga Dua as well as
\nmany shops, which were closed in the past two days, were now open
\ndespite the lack of visitors. More employees came to work as the
\nwater in their houses receded, even though they still found it
\ndifficult to reach the office due to traffic jams.<\/p>\n
\"Many of us arrived late at the office due to the traffic
\njams, while many others still could not come because they are
\nstill trapped in their houses due to the floods,\" said a
\nmarketing executive of an IT company on Jl. Sudirman, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The Deutsche Bank refused to take any risks by providing
\naccommodation at Hotel Mandarin for their employees whose houses
\nwere severely affected by floods.<\/p>\n
McDonald's on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, which was closed
\nfor two days due to floods and power outages, had resumed
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
But it was still a holiday for employees at PT Jamsostek, on
\nJl. Gatot Subroto, as there was no power supply from the state
\nelectricity company PT PLN, while the generator in its basement
\nwas inundated by water. Its offices in Pluit, Grogol, Rawamangun
\nand Tanjung Priok could not operate.<\/p>\n
Many schools were still closed, either because they were
\nflooded or they were being used as a temporary shelter for flood
\nvictims.<\/p>\n
Until noon on Monday, there were still more than 900
\nelectrical relay stations which remained shut down, compared to
\nmore than 1,200 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The recent floods hit 163 out of 268 subdistricts in all of
\nthe 43 districts in the city.<\/p>\n
At its peak between Wednesday and Friday, floodwaters in the
\nmost affected areas like Cipinang, East Jakarta, reached six
\nmeters. On Monday at 8 a.m., it reached 300 centimeters in
\nCipinang Besar Utara, but before noon, it had receded to 100 cm.<\/p>\n
Floodwaters also inundated certain roads, including Jl. HR
\nRasuna Said in South Jakarta, causing severe traffic jams.
\nVehicles inched along the road slowly, but the condition was not
\nas bad as Wednesday and Friday, when thousands of people were
\nforced to spend the night in their cars on the street or at the
\noffice.<\/p>\n
The floods have apparently caused severe damage to the roads.<\/p>\n
According to the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional
\nInfrastructure, there were damaged roads in 58 locations in the
\ncity and it is estimated that it would need Rp 106 billion to
\nrepair them. Many roads, however, had been damaged before the
\nfloods hit the city.<\/p>\n
The ministry also estimated that flood control projects in
\nJakarta, including the proposed East Flood Canal, would need Rp
\n16.3 trillion.<\/p>\n
\"The project could be completed in the next ten years,\"
\nMinister Soenarno told reporters after meeting Jakarta Governor
\nSutiyoso at City Hall along with five other Cabinet ministers on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
The construction of the planned East Flood Canal would
\nreportedly need Rp 1.3 trillion for appropriation of the required
\n230 hectares of land.<\/p>\n
The Rp 16.3 trillion would also be used for other projects,
\nsuch as repairing the current West Flood Canal and restoring the
\ncatchment area in the mountainous Puncak area, West Java.<\/p>\n
Puncak should actually serve as a catchment area to protect
\nthe city from the flow of water from Bogor regency, where the
\nmain rivers in the city came from. Unfortunately, many buildings
\nhave been built in the area while the authorities did not make
\nany effort to stop them.<\/p>\n
The meeting at City Hall concluded that a comprehensive plan
\nto control flooding in the city would be decided in the next two
\nweeks by President Megawati Soekarnoputri through a decree.<\/p>\n
The floods have killed at least 31 people in Greater Jakarta,
\nwhile five people are still missing.<\/p>\n
An employee at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital morgue said
\nthat they had received two unidentified bodies of adult males on
\nMonday, and another one on Sunday. The three of them had drowned.<\/p>\n
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency predicted that it would
\nrain on Tuesday, with temperatures between 23 and 31 degrees
\nCelsius, while according to weatherunderground.com there would be
\na chance of rain in the night with temperatures between 25 and 28
\ndegrees Celsius.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-struggles-to-return-to-normal-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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