Welcome to Jakarta, the underwater metropolis<\/p>\n
\"What a beautiful sight!\" a friend exclaimed upon seeing the
\nskyline from the 27th floor of a five-star hotel in Central
\nJakarta. It was raining heavily on that Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
He went on, \"There are still many vacant plots. We could have
\ninvested our money in building more shopping malls, offices or
\napartments.\"<\/p>\n
Call it an overreaction, but I had never expected that kind of
\ncomment from my friend, someone I considered to be highly
\nintellectual and broad-minded.<\/p>\n
\"Hey, that's a bad idea,\" I replied curtly. \"You know, those
\nvacant plots serve as water catchment areas. Without them,
\nJakarta would sink,\" I added, a bit sorry for having shouted at
\nhim.<\/p>\n
Other friends with us commented that he was only looking from
\nthe business point of view that it would be good to have more
\ninvestment projects in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"But don't do that at the expense of the environment and the
\npublic,\" I insisted.<\/p>\n
The next morning, another friend said her boyfriend in Tebet,
\nSouth Jakarta, decided to skip work because the road was blocked
\nby local residents after floodwaters swept through the area.<\/p>\n
\"My boyfriend got an SMS from a friend that the road was
\nflooded, so was the office. So, he turned around and went home,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
However, she forgot to tell me that traffic in the capital was
\nseverely affected from the heavy rains and floods.<\/p>\n
Just in front of my housing complex, I saw public minibuses
\ngoing the wrong way down a one-way road to avoid the flooded
\nsections. The situation was worsened by the many taxi drivers who
\nhad parked their vehicles along the road because their depot was
\nflooded.<\/p>\n
\"And it's not even the peak of the rainy season yet,\" I
\ngrumbled.<\/p>\n
I remember three years ago, when the great flood paralyzed the
\ncapital for nearly a week. I had to stay overnight at the office
\nfor three days because the toll road connecting Jakarta and
\nTangerang -- where I used to live -- was underwater and
\nimpossible for private cars to pass.<\/p>\n
Many Jakartans got stuck there, and the stretch of toll road
\nto Cawang turned into a huge parking lot. I counted myself lucky
\nthat I was able to return to my office and sleep underneath my
\ndesk.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this meant I had to leave my three-year-old boy
\nat home with my maids. I couldn't help the tears that rose in my
\neyes when I heard him crying over the phone, because my husband
\nand I hadn't come home for more than 24 hours.<\/p>\n
When the media reported that the city administration lacked
\nadequate measures to anticipate this year's flood season --
\nincluding efforts to evacuate flood victims, setting up public
\nkitchens and temporary shelters and most importantly, in
\ncomplying with the Jakarta Master Spatial Plan by conserving
\nwater catchment areas and greenbelts -- I thought I'd better come
\nup with my own emergency measure: I'd better bring a change of
\nclothes.<\/p>\n
It's just a precaution, in case I have to overnight at the
\noffice again.<\/p>\n
A colleague joked that the office should have provided several
\nrubber rafts and life vests, just in case we had to go whitewater
\nrafting to business meetings.<\/p>\n
As Governor Sutiyoso warned recently, a few sluices might be
\nopened this year to reduce flooding in vulnerable areas, which
\nwould cause the water to flow into many elite districts --
\nincluding the State Palace.<\/p>\n
So if there are any state guests coming to Jakarta, they might
\nget a very different sort of welcome than they are used to: they
\nmay be picked up by rubber rafts to sail down the main Sudirman
\nand Thamrin \"rivers\" before alighting at the palace \"pier\" for
\ntheir meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.<\/p>\n
It could even be that serious discussions on the country's
\nprospects and development would be held aboard the \"presidential
\nraft\" -- provided there is one.<\/p>\n
Or maybe our top architects could start to consider design
\noptions for transforming Jakarta into an underwater city, just
\nlike those in sci-fi flicks.<\/p>\n
Hey, why not? We're halfway there already -- and besides, it
\nwould open new opportunities for investment, wouldn't it? -- Budirianti<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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