City struggles to return to normal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Life in the capital began to return to normal on Monday as floods in various parts of the city continued to recede despite the heavy rain that fell in the morning. But it would obviously still be a long time before the city could really resume business as usual.

Major shopping centers like Roxy Mas and Mangga Dua as well as many shops, which were closed in the past two days, were now open despite the lack of visitors. More employees came to work as the water in their houses receded, even though they still found it difficult to reach the office due to traffic jams.

"Many of us arrived late at the office due to the traffic jams, while many others still could not come because they are still trapped in their houses due to the floods," said a marketing executive of an IT company on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

The Deutsche Bank refused to take any risks by providing accommodation at Hotel Mandarin for their employees whose houses were severely affected by floods.

McDonald's on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, which was closed for two days due to floods and power outages, had resumed business.

But it was still a holiday for employees at PT Jamsostek, on Jl. Gatot Subroto, as there was no power supply from the state electricity company PT PLN, while the generator in its basement was inundated by water. Its offices in Pluit, Grogol, Rawamangun and Tanjung Priok could not operate.

Many schools were still closed, either because they were flooded or they were being used as a temporary shelter for flood victims.

Until noon on Monday, there were still more than 900 electrical relay stations which remained shut down, compared to more than 1,200 on Saturday.

The recent floods hit 163 out of 268 subdistricts in all of the 43 districts in the city.

At its peak between Wednesday and Friday, floodwaters in the most affected areas like Cipinang, East Jakarta, reached six meters. On Monday at 8 a.m., it reached 300 centimeters in Cipinang Besar Utara, but before noon, it had receded to 100 cm.

Floodwaters also inundated certain roads, including Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, causing severe traffic jams. Vehicles inched along the road slowly, but the condition was not as bad as Wednesday and Friday, when thousands of people were forced to spend the night in their cars on the street or at the office.

The floods have apparently caused severe damage to the roads.

According to the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, there were damaged roads in 58 locations in the city and it is estimated that it would need Rp 106 billion to repair them. Many roads, however, had been damaged before the floods hit the city.

The ministry also estimated that flood control projects in Jakarta, including the proposed East Flood Canal, would need Rp 16.3 trillion.

"The project could be completed in the next ten years," Minister Soenarno told reporters after meeting Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso at City Hall along with five other Cabinet ministers on Monday.

The construction of the planned East Flood Canal would reportedly need Rp 1.3 trillion for appropriation of the required 230 hectares of land.

The Rp 16.3 trillion would also be used for other projects, such as repairing the current West Flood Canal and restoring the catchment area in the mountainous Puncak area, West Java.

Puncak should actually serve as a catchment area to protect the city from the flow of water from Bogor regency, where the main rivers in the city came from. Unfortunately, many buildings have been built in the area while the authorities did not make any effort to stop them.

The meeting at City Hall concluded that a comprehensive plan to control flooding in the city would be decided in the next two weeks by President Megawati Soekarnoputri through a decree.

The floods have killed at least 31 people in Greater Jakarta, while five people are still missing.

An employee at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital morgue said that they had received two unidentified bodies of adult males on Monday, and another one on Sunday. The three of them had drowned.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency predicted that it would rain on Tuesday, with temperatures between 23 and 31 degrees Celsius, while according to weatherunderground.com there would be a chance of rain in the night with temperatures between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius.