Controlling the floods?

Controlling the floods?

Even though every year both the central government and
provincial administrations, including the Jakarta administration,
express their determination to control floods and their impact,
the natural disaster remains uncontrolled. Minimizing the impact
of floods, much less anticipating them, seems to be difficult.

The floods that hit Jakarta on Wednesday were not as
disastrous as those that hit Marseille, France, and Melbourne,
Australia. Wednesday's floods were not as big as those that hit
almost all parts of the capital two years ago, both in terms of
scale and impact.

However, the floods two days ago left the capital almost
paralyzed, because many roads, including toll roads, particularly
in Central, West, East and South Jakarta, were congested up to
the wee hours of Thursday.

The fact is, rainfall, which causes the flooding, has yet to
reach its peak. The rain was quite heavy on Wednesday, but only
lasted half a day.

The question is, what causes flooding that has such a serious
impact? Based on the findings of a comprehensive survey, the
floods are caused by the fact that first, not all areas in the
capital have drainage systems; second, water accumulates in a
number of infrastructure projects, such as the underpass project
in Slipi, and overflows; third, the number of water catchment
areas continue to be reduced; and fourth, the construction of
some infrastructure ignores land use requirements.

Knowing the causes of the floods, we should find it easier to
control the natural disaster. The question is, are the central
government and provincial administrations determined to control
these floods? -- Business Indonesia, Jakarta