Body of second flood victim found in Pondok Indah

Body of second flood victim found in Pondok Indah

JAKARTA (JP): The bloated corpse of a woman who drowned in a
flash flood was found wound around the branches of a tree on
Thursday morning.

The discovery was made by a Grogol River sanitary worker near
the area where the river flows by the Pondok Indah golf course in
South Jakarta.

Cilandak Police chief Maj. Nurhayati identified the worker as
Hafidz and the corpse as Raden Ajeng Hadihastuti, 54.

Hadihastuti was with Pancasila University law lecturer
Musmarini Wiati, 58, when Musmarini's Toyota Corona sedan was
submerged in a sudden flood near a bridge opposite the Wisma Arum
Manis housing complex in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, early on
Wednesday morning.

Musmarini's corpse was fished out from the Grogol river on
Wednesday.

"Hafidz, who cleans the Grogol River daily, found the body of
Ibu Hadihastuti at about 11:30 a.m.," Nurhayati said.

Hafidz told reporters at the scene that he first found
Hadihastuti's black purse and after walking along the bank
located Hadihastuti's body entwined in the branches of a tree.

"When I saw the body, I was scared and then I remembered that
people and the police were searching for a body. I reported it to
the Cilandak Police," Hafidz said.

Musmarini's body was found some 200 meters from where the
victim's car was submerged on Wednesday. The driver Solihin
survived.

"The three were heading for Musmarini's home at Jl. Borobudur
No. 4 in Central Jakarta from a close friend's house in Cinere,
whose husband had just died at Harum hospital in Kalimalang, East
Jakarta.

"They started from Cinere at about 4:15 a.m. On the way home,
Hadiastuti told Solihin to go straight, until they reached the
Arum Manis bridge. But they got stuck near the bridge as the car
broke down and water gushed into the vehicle. Musmarini told
Solihin to push the car forward," Nurhayati said.

"He tried very hard to push, but failed."

A relative said on Thursday Musmarini's body would be buried
at the Tanah Kusir cemetery in South Jakarta at 1:30 p.m. on
Friday.

Heavy rain on Tuesday night flooded the areas of Petamburan,
Tanah Abang, Serdang and Kemayoran in Central Jakarta. The water
level of the Ciliwung river, the longest in West Java, with a
length of 117 kilometers, reportedly reached up to 70 centimeters
on Wednesday.

Separately, Governor Sutiyoso said on Thursday that the city
administration needed more water dams and equipment to handle
future floods.

"We need more dams and water pumps to minimize the effects of
the floods. We have floods every year and we are trying to
improve the situation in the capital. We have set up an early
warning system, for instance, so that residents will know in
advance that their neighborhoods will be flooded," he told
reporters in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, on the sidelines of his
visit to inundated areas.

Sutiyoso visited three flooded areas in Serdang, Central
Jakarta, North Cipinang Besar, East Jakarta and Lebak Bulus.

Sutiyoso rebuked residents for throwing their daily garbage
into the rivers.

"The rivers are blocked with garbage. The residents still lack
discipline in this matter," he said.

Most residents said that floods were something routine for
them and they were usually prepared.

"Sometimes we are flooded even when there are no rains," said
Ibu Marlina, a resident of North Cipinang Besar.

Head of the City Social Agency Edy Widodo said that Rp 225
million (US$30,000) had been earmarked for flood victims.

"We have also distributed staple foodstuffs and other basic
necessities to all five mayoralties so they can distribute them
to the residents. We will provide more when needed," he said.

"We have also plotted flood-prone areas and set up command
posts in cooperation with other agencies," he added.

Head of the City Public Works office Fadly Khatib said
resuming the construction of the halted East Flood Canal could
prevent future flooding in the northern and eastern areas of the
capital.

"The canal can contain overflows from rivers such as the
Cipinang, Sunter, Cakung and Kramatjati Rivers. If we don't
complete the construction, we might have to endure floods for the
next 10 years," Fadly told reporters.

The central government was responsible for constructing the
canal while the city administration was tasked with acquiring
land along the canal, he said.

"So far, we have acquired three hectares out of the 203
hectares needed. Securing the 203 hectares alone requires more
than Rp 2 trillion," he added.

Earlier, the head of the Dramaga Climatology office in Bogor,
Widodo, predicted it was likely for the western and southern
parts of the country to experience heavy downpours in the next
few days.

Cloudbursts persisted in most parts of Bogor with downpours in
Cisarua, Puncak, Cigudeg, Jonggol and Cariu. (05/ylt)