Early warning system must work, governor says

Bambang Nurbianto The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso ordered on Friday that all relevant officials in his administration to make final checks on early warning flood systems to ensure they work well.

He stressed that an efficient early warning system was important to minimize residents' financial losses.

In the early warning system, the Public Works Agency is tasked with monitoring water levels in major rivers. Meanwhile, the Crisis Center is tasked with informing relevant officials about the water levels, including subdistrict heads.

The subdistrict heads play a key role in the system because it is their job to inform residents if their areas will be inundated.

"Early warnings must reach residents. All officials must be ready to carry out their respective work. We must learn from the 2002 floods," said Sutiyoso, referring to the floods in which more than 30 people died and 300,000 people were displaced.

He threatened to punish officials who neglect their jobs.

According to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), the peak of the rainy season is between January and February. But there has been no significant downpours to date.

Sutiyono said there was no reason for Jakartans to experience floods that cause huge material losses.

"We have anticipated the rainy season for a long time. There is no reason not to be ready to minimize losses," said Sutiyoso when inspecting preparations for floods in Semanan subdistrict, West Jakarta, on Friday.

Semanan is one of Jakarta's 78 flood-prone areas.

During early 2002 flood, thousands of houses were inundated in Semanan, with floodwater two meters deep in some parts.

Sutiyoso reiterated that the city administration would not be able to eliminate annual flooding until it had completed the East Flood Canal, which is expected to accommodate runoff from rivers in eastern Jakarta.

The East Flood Canal is expected to be finished in 2007.

The city currently has only one flood canal -- the West Flood Canal -- but its capacity to accommodate water is continually declining due to sedimentation in the upper areas.

Huge floods in the city like in 1996 and 2002 were caused by heavy rain both in Jakarta and its upper areas -- Bogor and Depok -- as well as a high tide in the northern sea.

Given ample warning, Jakartans should be able to rescue their belongings to avoid financial losses because floodwater from Bogor, for example, takes around eight hours to reach Jakarta.