Under clouded skies<\/p>\n
The gloomy sky over Jakarta these days appears to be having an
\neffect on many people's way of thinking. The Jakarta city
\nadministration seems to believe it does not need to take any
\nprecaution against the arrival of the annual rainy season.<\/p>\n
So, in the lead-up to this year's change of climate there has
\nbeen no campaign to tell the residents to clean up their drains.
\nNor have there been any activities to clear the clogged rivers
\nand canals of garbage. There are 80 flood prone areas in the
\ncapital -- the seat of the central government -- and the number
\nis too high to bear.<\/p>\n
The authorities are fatalistic about the onset of the rainy
\nseason, despite the familiar problems it invariably causes in
\nthis metropolis of 10 million people. The flooding will not only
\ninundate slum areas but also newly built residential quarters.
\nTraffic congestion will certainly appear. All of these familiar
\nproblems can be attributed to equally familiar causes: a high
\nurbanization rate, poor public discipline and a corrupt mentality
\namong bureaucrats.<\/p>\n
The heavy downpour that hit Jakarta early this week brought
\nthe city to a standstill, without the authorities issuing a
\nwarning about a possible calamity. This inaction has also become
\nfamiliar. Among the people there has been a common fear that if
\nthe rains fall in the late afternoon they will cause complete
\nchaos, because even on a bright, normal day the traffic snarls
\nare horrendous.<\/p>\n
Cars move at a slow pace, travelling bumper to bumper for
\nmiles and miles. Traffic lights are out of action and at many
\ncrowded crossroads police officers are nowhere to be seen. It is
\nno exaggeration to say that the picture of Jakarta's chaotic
\ntraffic is the ugliest in the world. According to many travel
\nwriters, traffic conditions in a given country provide the true
\npicture of its rule of law.<\/p>\n
There have been some efforts to avoid the arrival of more
\ndangerous floods but conditions are the same, if not worse. So,
\nthe city authorities have not been able to answer the classic
\nquestion: What is wrong with your system? A recent newspaper
\nreport, however, pointed to something more serious. \"The city
\nadministration said yesterday it needed to delay a plan to
\npurchase trucks for its sanitary agency and public order office
\nsince the funds allocated for the vehicles were used to pay for
\n55 sedans and five buses for councillors.\" The authorities in
\ncharge of this problem should have their heads examined.<\/p>\n
According to data at the city administration, the government
\nis able to operate only 600 garbage trucks to dump the 25,000
\ncubic meters of garbage produced by the city's residents every
\nday. Of this total, only 23,000 cubic meters can be transported
\nto the dump center. So, the remaining 2,000 cubic meters are
\nthrown by \"creative\" people into the nearest river. Rivers,
\ndrains and canals have long been important parts of the
\nmetropolis because the people have used them as cheap garbage
\ndumps.<\/p>\n
Floods are also caused by the construction of new roads and
\nhouses, which pay no heed to their surroundings. The best example
\nof this is the inundation of the first toll road linking the city
\nand the international airport of Soekarno-Hatta only a few years
\nafter its construction. In other parts of the city too, huge
\nconstruction works cause major damage to existing drainage
\nsystems and the contractors do not feel the need to shoulder
\nresponsibility for the destruction. And the corrupt city
\nofficials turn blind eyes to reality and deaf ears to the
\npeople's complaints. They have been suddenly submerged.<\/p>\n
It is useless to call on the city administration to rid the
\nlicensing business or development agencies of corrupt officials
\nbecause the graft has been built in to their mentality. But
\nshouldn't they at least have to evaluate the environmental impact
\nof new projects and once in a while listen to the people's
\ngrievances?<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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