Thousands concerned about floods<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The onset of the rainy season has caused thousands of people
\nliving along the city's rivers to worry about the safety of their
\nhomes and the possibility of floods on a similar scale to those
\nof 2002.<\/p>\n
"There are floods every year. I'm scared because they usually
\nstart very fast and we have no time to safeguard our belongings,"
\nsaid Rohayah, 50, a resident of Cipinang Besar Selatan
\nsubdistrict in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Her house is located on the Cipinang riverbank.<\/p>\n
"I can only hope that this year's floods won't be as bad as
\nlast years," she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, adding that
\nthe river had overflown reaching her backyard when it rained
\nheavily last Thursday.<\/p>\n
During last year's floods at least 30 people were killed and
\n300,000 were forced to flee their homes. The biggest flood in the
\ncity's history hit 168 of 262 subdistricts.<\/p>\n
People living on Ciliwung riverbank at Kampung Melayu
\nsubdistrict in East Jakarta and Bukit Duri subdistrict in South
\nJakarta shared the same concerns.<\/p>\n
Both areas were among the worst hit last year with water
\nlevels reaching around two meters.<\/p>\n
In May, when other areas were safe from flooding, both
\nsubdistricts were again hit by floods.<\/p>\n
Saiful, 22, a resident of Kampung Melayu, recalled that over
\n300 hundreds people had been forced to evacuate their houses.<\/p>\n
Rivers in Jakarta originate in Bogor. Even when there is no
\nrain in the capital, floods can still occur if it is raining
\nheavily there.<\/p>\n
Another contributing factor is the residents' habit of dumping
\nrubbish in the rivers.<\/p>\n
The ministry of resettlement and regional infrastructure
\nstated earlier that 45 trucks of garbage from rivers are loaded
\nevery day.<\/p>\n
Even as the Post spoke to Rohayah her neighbor was throwing
\ngarbage in the river.<\/p>\n
Saiful, who works as a butcher at Kampung Melayu traditional
\nmarket, admitted that most people living along the Ciliwung river
\ndispose of their garbage in the river, although community unit
\nofficials have hired garbage men to collect it.<\/p>\n
"We have to walk quite far to reach the dump site, throwing
\ngarbage in the river is easier," said Saiful, referring to the
\ntemporary dump site which is located 300 meters away from his
\nhouse.<\/p>\n
To welcome the rainy season, the ministry cleaned up water
\ngates in Cipinang, Manggarai, Cengkareng in West Jakarta and Rawa
\nBadak dam in North Jakarta on Friday.<\/p>\n
The activity was also part of the Clean up the World campaign
\nin the city.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso has repeatedly asked people living on
\nriverbanks to move, saying that the city will join with the
\ncentral government to provide some 30,000 low-cost apartments.<\/p>\n
However, the plan seems far from reality, as head of the
\nNational Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Kwik Kian Gie,
\nsaid that the government would need some Rp 15 trillion (US$1.77
\nbillion) to build the apartments.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thousands-concerned-about-floods-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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