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)