Heavy rain to hit E. Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara<\/p>\n
Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Some rain is expected in Jakarta, but not on the order of last
\nweek's storms, over the next few days, but heavy thunderstorms
\nare expected to pound East Java, Central Java, Bali, West and
\nEast Nusa Tenggara in the coming days beginning Sunday,
\nmeteorologists predict.<\/p>\n
An official at the Geophysical and Meteorological Agency
\n(BMG), Maman, said the rains were linked to typhoon Chris which
\nis moving from Australia at a speed of five knots, or about 9
\nkm\/hr, but could reach 55 knots soon.<\/p>\n
\"Rains in the capital will not quickly recede, mind you...
\nThere will be bad rains in the coming days, but they will
\neventually ease by the end of this month,\" Maman told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Maman said satellite reports received by BMG as of 6 p.m. on
\nSunday revealed that severe storms would hit East Java, Central
\nJava, Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara as an \"indirect effect\"
\nof the typhoon.<\/p>\n
\"Residents of these areas, particularly East Java, Bali and
\nWest Nusa Tenggara... please be careful and take all necessary
\nprecautions. Jakarta will at least be free of heavy thunderstorms
\nfor sometime,\" Maman said.<\/p>\n
Separately, weather expert Hendro Purnomo confirmed that the
\nhardest hit areas could be Bali and the islands of Lombok,
\nSumbawa, Flores, Kupang and East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta will have heavy rains... probably with thunder and
\nlightning, but the worst is yet to come. Now, the hardest-hit
\nareas will be East Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara,\" Hendro told the
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Floods resulting from rains have left at least 200,000 people
\ndisplaced in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Areas previously free of flooding, including the State Palace
\nand the Vice Presidential Palace compounds, were ankle deep on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
Thousands of police and troops have been deployed since then
\nto support relief efforts, with the government, private donors
\nand emergency groups distributing food aid.<\/p>\n
The death toll from flood-related incidents in the capital and
\nits surrounding towns since Tuesday has hit 28, including an
\neight-month-old baby.<\/p>\n
Maman said that heavy rain was just one of factors that had
\ncaused the recent flooding, probably the worst in Jakarta's
\nmodern history in terms of areas affected and fatalities.<\/p>\n
\"The immediate problem for the capital is not the rain... but
\nthe flooding. The tons and tons of trash clogging the capital's
\nfloodgates and rivers, is causing the waters to overflow,\" Maman
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
BMG had last year predicted abundant rainfall for January and
\nFebruary this year and warned of flooding should heavy rains
\noccur in the upper courses of the 13 rivers that flow through the
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
Apart from the trash clogging up water ways, other factors
\ncontributing to the floods in the city were high tides in the
\nJava Sea, the poor state of the drainage system and unregulated
\nbuilding on catchment areas, BMG said.<\/p>\n
The drainage system plays an important role in preventing
\nflooding since each year the city receives a similar amount of
\nrain, according to the agency.<\/p>\n
Another reason for the city's vulnerability to floods is the
\nfact that around 40 percent of the capital lies below sea level.<\/p>\n
Environmental groups have blamed the floods on the City
\nadministration's failure to maintain green areas in the city and
\nits surroundings, which should be utilized as catchment areas.<\/p>\n
In its statement on Saturday, the Indonesian Forum for
\nEnvironment (Walhi) said the most recent floods resulted from the
\nadministration's failure in land use planning and the absence of
\na political will to conserve forests, rather than the global
\nwarming phenomenon.<\/p>\n
\"Indeed the green house effect resulting from the global
\nwarming has contributed to the abundant rainfall, but it would
\nhave not caused floods if the local government was serious about
\npreserving catchment areas and wetland in land use planning,\"
\nWalhi executive director Ahmad Safrudin said in the statement.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, Safrudin said the city was now paying the
\nprice for its \"willingness\" to allow villas to be built in the
\nCipanas catchment area on the foot of Mount Gede, Pangrango in
\nBogor, West Java as well as at Angke Kapuk mangrove forest in
\nNorth Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The mangrove forest, he said, could hold up to 9.1 million
\ncubic meters of water at its original size of 1,140 hectares. But
\nsince a \"reclamation\" project changed part of the forest into a
\ngolf course and a housing complex in 1992, the area's capability
\nto hold water dropped by at least two thirds.<\/p>",
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