Endless floods hit Kapuk Muara area
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The rainy season has yet to come but the residents of Kapuk Muara subdistrict in North Jakarta had to put up with water from the Angke river deluging the road and their homes for the last week. The water reached knee-level over the Idul Fitri holiday.
This is not new for the residents, who have mostly lived alongside the river for over 30 years. The road is frequently flooded to a depth of 10 centimeters (cm) to 30 cm. At least three times a year, it reaches at least 50 centimeters.
Yohanes Avila Sutjipto, one of the subdistrict council members and head of neighborhood unit five (RW 5), said that the floods had become worse since 1997 due to the incomplete construction of a water canal.
The city administration, he said, had built three canals that were about two kilometers long that year in a bid to channel the water from the river into Cengkareng Drain and then the Java Sea.
But construction of one of the canals that runs through RW 5 had stopped after only 100 meters. The water simply swamped the empty plot of land adjacent to the Villa Kapuk Mas housing complex.
"When the water level of the river is high, usually after rain in Bogor, the blocked canal forces the excess water to flow into Jl. Kapuk Muara and hence into the houses," Sutjipto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, adding that his neighborhood suffered the most.
RW 5 is situated right alongside the riverbank, whose surface is level with the ground. Only a one-meter-wide path separates the houses from the filthy river, full of household garbage.
The floods in February inundated the area with water that would have reached the neck of an adult male.
The floods were worsened by the development of Pantai Indah Kapuk housing estate in the early 1990s by developer PT Mandara Permai in a water catchment of Kapuk Muara coastal area.
The residents staged demonstrations against PT Mandara, which was later forced to raise the road by 80 cm.
However, construction only began in September and failed to avert water from flooding the road.
A dam built in Pesing Koneng that has blocked the free flow of the Angke river and the absence of an embankment worsen the situation.
"The residents made their complaints and suggestions to vice governor Fauzi Bowo during his visit on Nov. 27. But I don't know how quickly we'll get a response," Sutjipto said.
The Jakarta administration has promised to build an embankment alongside the river to replace the old five-meter wall, built in 1970, of which only 20 centimeters of its steel frame are left standing, while the whole wall has completely subsided.
However, said a resident, the construction will only be started next year.
In anticipation of the next floods, predicted to hit the capital late this month or early next year, the administration has provided one boat to each of seven RWs, as well as long-life food to be distributed immediately the waters rise.
Flood-free shelters, according to Sutjipto, have also been prepared by the administration.
However, residents have long been disappointed by broken promises and refuse to leave their houses, whatever happens.
"I've been here since 1971 and I'm used to the floods. I can best stay in the attic. Moreover, the shelters were all inundated during the last floods," said Yohana Sumiati, whose house faces the river.