Alternatives in handling floods

Alternatives in handling floods

Recently there has been a lot of coverage on the flooding and the financial and social problems it has caused; the kampong in my own area being a victim. The governor seems to be blamed the most.

Having lived here for over 20 years ... this is nothing new. Development in Puncak under previous administrations and other areas where it should never have been allowed are also a major cause of the floods. A classic example is the airport toll road. Another of course is an antiquated flood management system which seems to have hardly changed since the Dutch times.

My understanding is until only few years ago the responsibility of flood management in Jakarta was solely in the hands of the central government, not the governor. Ex governor Ali Sadikin mentioned something to that extent in a recent interview in Kompas.

Frankly any governor would be facing the same problem today. Taking over that position during a five-year monetary crisis with significant changes in the government and decades of inactivity with regards flood management do not make this an easy job.

Now that the Jakarta administration is responsible, the City Council should be supporting the governor in these type of programs and providing whatever assistance is required to raise funding. In the end they are equally responsible for the success or failure of the governor in power.

This flooding problem is now an extraordinary budget item which requires additional and urgent funding over the next three to five years. Given that drainage is hardly an attractive foreign investment opportunity the City Council will have to consider alternatives.

DAVID WHITAKER

Jakarta