Flooding chaos gridlocks Jakarta

Flooding chaos gridlocks Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta was virtually paralyzed yesterday with thousands of people failing to turn up for work or school, and thousands others stranded for hours in traffic jams.

The massive floods that swept the capital during the weekend simply refused to let the city of more 10 million resume its normal activities yesterday.

Traffic congestion developed at almost every corner of the city, while hundreds of shops, including downtown Glodok district, were closed. Thousands of telephone lines were disconnected as the city began the week after the worst flooding it has seen in nearly 20 years.

Many people arriving at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport also felt the brunt of the elements.

The few taxis that managed to find their way to the airport refused to run their meters and insisted on fixed fares.

The going rates were Rp 60,000 to Slipi area, Rp 90,000 to Blok M, and Rp 250,000 to Bogor. Even with the exorbitant fares, people had to fight over the few taxis.

Many offices and shops decided to give their employees the day off when it became apparent that only a few people managed to find their way to work.

"This is costing me tens of millions of rupiah in business," commented an electronic shopowner in Glodok.

Even some government activities were affected. A meeting between cabinet ministers and the Supreme Advisory Council had to be postponed because of fears that some of the ministers might not make it given the huge traffic congestion.

Many people who were stuck in the traffic jam decided to call it a day and headed for home, which proved to be another struggle.

"My parents, uncle and I were only able to reach as far as Kebun Jeruk tollgate after struggling for almost four hours in the toll road from Karawaci," Gina, a high school student at Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta, said. On normal days, the 25 km Karawaci-Kebun Jeruk length would have been covered in 30 minutes at most.

Another Karawaci resident said he took nine hours to get to his office in the Palmerah district, instead of the usual one hour. "It's unbelievable," he said.

In East Jakarta, the situation was not much better.

The toll road from Taman Mini to the Cempaka Putih area, which normally could be covered in less than one hour, required four hours.

The breakdown of vehicles, particularly buses, because of overheating or running out of fuel, worsened the situation.

Many taxi drivers decided to stay at home, knowing that if they worked, they would never be able to earn enough to money to pay their daily rental fees. Those who decided to work switched their meters off, and put their prices up.

The few that still ran the meter regretted taking the road yesterday. "I've only collected Rp 6,000 after six hours of driving," a President Taxi driver said.

There were also fewer buses available forcing many people to walk home.

Police confirmed that yesterday's traffic jam was one of the worst in history.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said there were at least 33 "critical points" that led to the congestion.

These include areas cut off by water between 30 centimeters to one meter deep, and many junctions where the traffic lights had been switched off because of fears that the wirings could electrocute passers-by, Iman said.

Among the roads that saw the biggest jams were Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, Jl. Kelapa Gading and Jl. Kalibata in east Jakarta, Jl. Kyai Tapa, Jl. S. Parman and Jl. Stasiun Kota in west Jakarta, Jl. Hasyim Asyhari, Jl. Mas Mansyur, Jl. Jatibaru, Jl. Kemayoran in central Jakarta, Jl. Cipulir, Jl. Pasar Minggu in south Jakarta, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Jl. Podomoro, Jl. Pluit, Jl. Pademangan and Jl. Lodan in north Jakarta.

Yesterday also saw the floods, originally concentrated in the Kampung Melayu area during the weekend, spreading to other parts of the city, including Slipi and Glodok areas in the west and Sunter area in the north.

Meanwhile, thousands of telephone lines in areas affected by floods had also been disconnected, adding misery to the victims.

Rizal Saat, head of PT Telkom's East Jakarta office,said a total of 1,505 telephone lines in the area have been unusable since Sunday due to the floods.

The broken lines were located in Manggarai Utara, Bukit Duri, Manggarai Selatan, Kampung Melayu Kecil/Besar, Kebon Baru, Asem Baris, Gudang Peluru and their surroundings, said Rizal.

He said Telkom workers would try to restore the lines today. (team)

Editorial -- Page 4