Tracing the roots of the capital's flooding problem<\/p>\n
By Bambang Budi Utomo<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A lot has changed since Jakarta was founded 469
\nyears ago on June 22, 1527. Its population has grown rapidly.
\nAccording to one of the earliest records available, Jakarta had a
\npopulation of 27,068 in 1673. The number has swollen to nine
\nmillion this year. Its economy is booming and signs of its
\ndevelopment are everywhere.<\/p>\n
However, one problem has remained untouched by time, and is
\neven said to be worsening. It is Jakarta's floods. The present
\nsituation has been attributed to population density which has
\nreduced open spaces. With less and less space and inappropriate
\ndrainage, flooding has become a cause for alarm, especially as
\nmore and more land in the southern region of Jakarta, allocated
\nas water catchment sites, has been turned into housing.<\/p>\n
The first settlers of Jakarta chose a place by the Ciliwung
\nRiver close to what is now suburban Condet in East Jakarta.
\nArcheological research backed up by Australian lab research
\ntraced habitation in the region back from 1000 BC to 500 BC. In
\nthe year 1000 BC, the riverbank population used polished stone
\nimplements and lived from agricultural produce. In history the
\nperiod is known as the Neolithic Age.<\/p>\n
Five centuries later, in 500 BC, the people and their
\nintellectual abilities had reached an elevated evolutionary
\nlevel. It was the bronze period in which people used bronze
\nimplements. The people formed settlements and mainly lived off
\nagricultural products.<\/p>\n
Several archeological sites indicating early habitation were
\nfound in Pejaten, Kramat, Rawakodok (Condet-Batuampar), Condet-
\nBalekambang, Pasar Minggu and Tanjung Barat.<\/p>\n
Research conducted in the early 1970s brought to light that
\nthe Pejaten site was inhabited by a more advanced people than
\nthose living alongside the Ciliwung River. Findings such as
\nceramic shards, stone axes, square pickaxes, stone sharpeners,
\nmetal molds, bronze bracelets and rings as well as iron
\nimplements, strongly indicated that Pejaten site dwellers in the
\nyear 500 BC were of more advanced intellect. They held rituals
\nfor the dead whose funeral was a two-time affair. This could be
\ndeducted from human bones found in jars together with pickaxes.<\/p>\n
The Pejaten site proved to be an ideal habitat then and now.
\nIt is located west of the Ciliwung River, 25 metres above the
\nriver water level, making it an idyllic flood-free area and of
\neasy access to river water for the people. Water treatment was
\ndone according to technological know-how of the time.<\/p>\n
These aspects turned Pejaten into a prime site of habitation
\nthen and now because of its panoramic scenes overlooking the
\nCiliwung River. Today, it is a modern housing estate called
\nKalibata Indah.<\/p>\n
Coping with floods<\/p>\n
The first settlers of Jakarta were ignorant people without any
\ninkling of what civilization stood for. They settled in groups,
\nforming a small community and lived in a few simple sheds.
\nCivilization set in after several hundred years.<\/p>\n
The first signs of civilization in Jakarta were found in the
\nvillage Tugu. Here, people were literate and already had a
\ngoverning order.<\/p>\n
History has it that Tugu village was the precursor of what is
\nnow Jakarta. The site is located between East Jakarta and Bekasi
\nregency. Tugu is better known now as the birthplace of keroncong
\nmusic which was developed by long time settlers of Portuguese
\ndescent.<\/p>\n
In 1870 early inscriptions found in the region spoke of these
\nfirst settlers of Jakarta. Proof was found on an oval stone, its
\nsurface encircled with inscriptions in Sanskrit.<\/p>\n
Known as the Tugu Inscription, it was written in the Pallava
\nletters and issued by King Purnawarman of the kingdom
\nTarumanagara in the 22nd year of his reign. Judging from the
\nlettering style, the message must have been at least inscribed in
\nthe year 450.<\/p>\n
The Tarumanagara kingdom was devoted to the Hindu god Wisnu,
\nan assumption further affirmed when a stone plaque, found at the
\nCiaruteun River in Bogor regency, bore a much praised foot
\nimprint of King Purnawarman in his reincarnation of god Wisnu.
\nAnother stone plaque was found nearby bearing the foot imprint of
\nan elephant.<\/p>\n
From the numerous stone inscriptions, it is assumed that the
\nTarumanagara kingdom covered the northern region of Jakarta,
\nclosely bordering the southern part of Bogor.<\/p>\n
From a translation we understood that the inscription reads as
\nfollows:<\/p>\n
"The Candrabhaga River was dug up by the Great King
\nPurnawarman, the king with powerful arms, who let it flow to sea
\nafter running through his palace grounds.<\/p>\n
In the 22nd year of his reign, King Purnawarman,
\nexemplary of all kings, decreed that another river producing
\nclear water, called the Gomati, should be made. The river should
\nflow right through the place of the honorable Priest, King
\nPurnawarman's grandfather.<\/p>\n
Work started on a chosen day, on the eighth half of the full
\nmoon Caitra. The work lasted only 21 days, covering a length of
\n6,122 tumbak (one tumbak equals 3.6 meters), about 11 kilometers
\nlong. A selamatan (thanksgiving feast) was held by brahmans and a
\ngift of 1,000 cows was presented."<\/p>\n
Tugu village is located on lowland, part of which contains
\nmarshland. Nearby flows the Cakung River. The swamp environment
\nstrongly suggests that it was a flood prone area. It is quite
\nlikely that the early Candrabhaga River is today the Cakung River
\nwhich runs from the south into the marshes.<\/p>\n
It is assumed that in the days of king Purnawarman, excess
\nwater of the marshes was led to sea along a manmade river, the
\nGomati.<\/p>\n
The inscribed message informs us of a king who lived in the
\nmiddle of the fifth century and who successfully overcame the
\nflood problem in his kingdom. It is, therefore, to be regretted
\nthat his skill and wisdom in grappling with the elements vanished
\nwithout a trace. The river he dug up in 21 days is now submerged
\nin layers of soil, its surface covered with modern housing
\ncomplexes and factories, which are most likely the cause of East
\nJakarta's inundations in the monsoon periods.<\/p>\n
Entrenched city<\/p>\n
Very few historical facts about civilization, if any, were
\nfound in Jakarta of the fifth to 15th century. The early period
\nof the 16th century divulged more facts about the Tarumanagara
\nkingdom. It showed that Jakarta was called Sunda Kalapa at the
\ntime, a seaport of the Pajajaran kingdom of which the capital was
\nassumed to be in the Bogor region near Batutulis.<\/p>\n
According to Tome Pires, a Portuguese traveler living in
\nMalacca at the time, the Pajajaran kingdom owned seaports on the
\nnorthern coast of Java, i.e. Banten, Tangerang, Sunda Kalapa,
\nCimanuk (Indramayu) and Cirebon.<\/p>\n
Sunda Kalapa was located at the mouth of a large river that
\nemptied into the Jakarta Bay. The largest river running through
\nJakarta would make it the Ciliwung, which once carried traders
\nand their wares to Sunda Kalapa. The seaport was once the hub of
\neconomic activities, attracting many merchants from foreign
\nports.<\/p>\n
Tome Pires recorded that Sunda Kalapa produced 1,000 bahar
\n(one bahar equals 400 pounds) while it exported gold, vegetables,
\ncows, pigs, goats, buffaloes, fruit and a wine variety to
\nMalacca. The record also mentioned that Sunda Kalapa loaded 10
\njunks of rice annually.<\/p>\n
Barros, another Portuguese, mentioned that the Pajajaran
\nkingdom counted 100,000 people. Fifty thousand of them lived in
\nthe city of Pajajaran while every port including Sunda Kalapa had
\na population of 10,000 people.<\/p>\n
Sunda Kalapa was conquered by Moslems under the leadership of
\nFatahilla on June 22, 1527. From then on the seaport was called
\nJayakarta, meaning "perfect victory". Its social structure,
\neconomy and culture came under the strong influence of Islam.<\/p>\n
Jayakarta, under Fatahilla, was entrenched by small rivers in
\nthe north, south and west, while the main river, the Ciliwung,
\nflowed in the east. Jayakarta, according to the Dutch who arrived
\nin 1596, was fenced off by a bamboo barrier. The bamboo barrier
\nwas changed into one of concrete during the reign of prince
\nJayakarta Wijayakrama.<\/p>\n
Jayakarta fell to Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the governor general
\nof the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, on May 30, 1619. The
\nname Jayakarta became Batavia as suggested by van Raay, one of
\nthe members of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie. It was
\nformally baptized Batavia under the order of Heeren XVIII in
\n1621. Coen himself wanted to name the capital Nieuw Hoorn after
\nhis birth place in north Holland. Since 1619, governor general
\nCoen began to systematically develop Batavia.<\/p>\n
He designed Batavia in the mode of an entrenched city. The
\nDutch had a penchant to build Batavia in the same image of their
\ncities back home. Cities and a maze of canals and bridges, built
\nin an orderly manner.<\/p>\n
A map made in the year 1619 shows that the colonial government
\nstarted to dig canals east of the Ciliwung River in the
\nneighborhood of the capital's center. The city map and its canals
\ndepicting neat and orderly city planning was completed by van der
\nParra in 1770.<\/p>\n
There is another reason behind the new city design. Next to
\nbuilding Batavia in the same style of Dutch towns, a second
\nreason disclosed a closer affinity with defense and security. The
\nthird reason could well be to avert floods, already a major
\nproblem in those days. A picture taken in 1872 takes away any
\ndoubts in that respect. In the picture, the Harmonie neighborhood
\n(Jl. Majapahit) was inundated by Ciliwung excess water. The
\ncanals were a solution to flooding in the city. What would have
\nhappened if no canals had been built at all?<\/p>\n
Devastation<\/p>\n
Jakarta made a wet entry into 1996 and was given a wet
\nreception when floods in February and March submerged half of the
\ncity. Panic followed. Who was to blame? A scapegoat had to be
\nfound.<\/p>\n
Heavy building in the highlands of West Java -- Bogor, Puncak
\nand Cianjur -- have all but robbed the capital of its water
\ncatchment sites. Too many forests have been felled for the sake
\nof national development. South Jakarta, once a landscape filled
\nwith rubber plantations starting from Pondok Gede, Kalibata,
\nCipete until Serpong, covered a wide area in the region.<\/p>\n
The rubber trees were still part of the landscape until 1960.
\nA few tree clumps are left now in the yard of the Bata shoe
\nfactory in Kalibata and in the Serpong area.<\/p>\n
Under Dutch colonial rule, many reservoirs were built in South
\nJakarta to catch floodwater. Reservoirs were located in the
\nregion of Sawangan, Pamulang and in Depok. Few basins can still
\nbe observed in Pamulang and the University of Indonesia campus in
\nDepok. Most of the reservoirs though made way for new housing
\ncomplexes. As for the canals built by king Purnawarman, they
\ndisappeared with time and those built by the colonial government
\nhave lapsed into a dilapidated state. The aforementioned are
\nclearly reasons why Jakarta's flood areas spread further each
\nyear.<\/p>",
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