Experts blames unchecked development for floods<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
An imbalanced policy between physical development and
\nenvironmental conservation has contributed to the flooding in the
\ncapital in the last 10 years, environmentalist Ahmad Syarifuddin
\nsays.<\/p>\n
\"The intensifying conversion of open spaces into buildings has
\nmade the remaining green areas unable to support the physical
\ndevelopment,\" he told The Jakarta Post recently.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has blasted some city's
\nadministration policies in altering the land use master plan to
\nallow private sector construction projects.<\/p>\n
With the rainy season coming, people are worrying about
\npossible floods that might be as bad as last years, where water
\ninundated 168 of 262 subdistricts across the city. At least 31
\npeople were killed while 300,000 others had to be evacuated in
\nthe calamity.<\/p>\n
Ahmad, also former chairman of the Environment Forum (Walhi)
\nin the city, expressed concern that the city administration had
\ndone little to prevent floods but only taken measures to overcome
\nthe impact.<\/p>\n
\"They have learned absolutely nothing from annual floods,
\nparticularly last year's,\" he said, adding that the
\nadministration was only busy preparing rubber dinghies, setting
\nup rescue teams or monitoring the Manggarai and Depok sluice
\ngates.<\/p>\n
The main problem, he said, was caused by the reduced number of
\ngreen areas. In 1965, Jakarta had around 24,000 hectares of green
\nareas, or around 40 percent of its 60,000-hectares. The figure
\ndecreased to 18,000 hectares in 1985 and to 6,000 hectares in
\n1998. Now Jakarta only has 4,320 hectares of green areas.<\/p>\n
Bylaw No.5\/1984 on Jakarta's spatial zoning states that the
\ncity must have between 26.5 percent and 31.5 percent, or between
\n15,900 hectares and 18,900 hectares of green areas.<\/p>\n
\"But we have only seen successful lobbying by businessmen to
\nthe city governor to covert more and more of the open spaces into
\nbusiness centers in Kapuk, Pluit, Pulomas, Kuningan, Kelapa
\nGading and South Jakarta,\" Ahmad said.<\/p>\n
With 13 rivers flowing through the capital, more areas have
\nbecome prone to flooding since the conversion of the function of
\nthe 1,114-hectare mangrove forest in Kapuk, North Jakarta, for
\nluxury housing, commercial areas and the Sedyatmo toll road in
\nthe 1990s.<\/p>\n
The decreasing number of water catchment areas in the
\nmountains to the south of Jakarta namely Bogor, Puncak and
\nCianjur -- due to the mushrooming estate development -- have also
\nbeen partly blamed for causing floods in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"An average of 60 big trees are slashed down illegally in the
\nMt. Salak forest everyday,\" Ahmad said, referring to the mountain
\nin Bogor regency.<\/p>\n
A weather forecast says that high-intensity rain between
\nJanuary and March next year will likely hit the city and could
\ncause landslides like last year.<\/p>\n
\"Besides an El Nino phenomenon, the wind will also blow
\nstrongly, bringing at least two cyclones from Australia to the
\nsouthern part of Java. This will certainly worsen the situation
\nin Jakarta,\" said an independent meteorologist Hendro Purnomo.<\/p>\n
Ahmad said the only way to make Jakarta free from floods was
\nby \"building a better drainage and flood-control system, dredging
\nrivers frequently and coordinating with the Bogor regency
\nadministration to build more canals and lakes in the highland
\nareas.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/experts-blames-unchecked-development-for-floods-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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