JP\/5\/YULI<\/p>\n
Floods haunt residents in southern Bandung for years<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Bandung<\/p>\n
Suhanda, 55, a resident of Bojong Citepus hamlet, Dayeuhkolot
\ndistrict in Bandung, is certainly an unfortunate man. Suhanda,
\nwhose house is located near the Citarum River, has become
\naccustomed to annual floods. He cannot afford to raise the floor
\nof his house, thus it is regularly deluged by floodwaters.<\/p>\n
"It's inconceivable that a year would pass without flooding
\noccurring, even if it's only three or four days in a year," said
\nSuhanda, a casual worker at a textile factory near Cisirung.<\/p>\n
Head of Administrative Unit No. 9 in the Bojong Citepus
\nhamlet, Cangkuang Wetan subdistrict, Lili Suhaeli, said that
\naround 300 households in the subdistrict were subject to the
\nannual floods.<\/p>\n
Lili said area residents reasoned that the Citarum River, the
\nlargest river in West Java, was to blame as it had silted up. It
\ncould no longer carry away heavy rainfall flowing from higher
\nground, much of which has now been denuded of vegetation.<\/p>\n
Top soil had been eroded away by water that flowed into the
\nriver, filling it with mud and trash. As the river could no
\nlonger carry the high volumes of water from sudden heavy rains,
\nit would overflow areas along its banks.<\/p>\n
Dayeuhkolot is the lowest area in the Bandung basin. In 1809,
\nthen regent of Bandung regency, R.A. Wiranatakusumah II, along
\nwith his people, moved from Dayeuhkolot (formerly known as
\nKrapyak), the then-capital of Bandung regency.<\/p>\n
They relocated en masse from Krapyak, some 11 kilometers to
\nthe south of Bandung city, as they considered it insufficiently
\nstrategic as an administrative center, being prone to floods
\nduring rainy seasons.<\/p>\n
Dayeuhkolot district spokesman, Inen, said that three villages
\nof Bojong Citepus, Citepus and Bojong in Dayeuhkolot and
\nPasawahan districts, were vulnerable to slow-receding floods.<\/p>\n
The government has established a special institution, the
\nCitarum Flood Management Project, to curb the problem of floods
\nin southern Bandung areas.<\/p>\n
Satisfactory results have already been noticed in several
\nareas such as Baleendah and Bojongsoang, previously flood-prone
\nareas, where flooding no longer occurs. But such was not the case
\nfor Dayeuhkolot residents, said Inen.<\/p>\n
Restoration works on the Citarum River, funded by the Japan
\nBank for International Cooperation, have been going on since
\n1997.<\/p>\n
Silt dredging and renovation works have been carried out at 11
\nlocations along the Citarum River, and eight locations at its two
\ntributaries, the Cisangkuy and the Cikeruh Rivers.<\/p>\n
But the public remains skeptical about whether the project,
\nwhich ends this year, will be worthwhile because they are still
\naffected by floods.<\/p>\n
"The head of the project, Arung Samudro, had once indicated
\nthat floods would still occur in Dayeuhkolot on completion of the
\nproject," said Inen.<\/p>\n
To survive the floods, residents were provided with two
\nemergency shelters by the provincial administration. But the
\nshelters were apparently of little help because the 3-meter
\nbuildings -- that are able to accommodate 400 people -- stood in
\nthe middle of a flood-prone area, the Bojong Citepus village.<\/p>\n
"Residents have to find boats to reach the shelters," said
\nInen.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Bandung regental council put forward a
\nmotion to relocate residents from the flood-prone area, but they
\nrejected it. Inen said that 60 percent of the residents worked in
\nthe hundreds of factories located in the area.<\/p>\n
"We are used to the floods. They will only last for a week.
\nThe moment the floods recede, we can live normally again.
\nMoreover, the new place may not be near here. I'll have to pay
\nfor transportation if I live far from here," said Suhanda.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5yuli-1447899208",
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