Early warning system must work, governor says
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.