Floods a 'national disaster' for business
Floods a 'national disaster' for business
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Following the disruption of economic and commercial activities
in the capital and its surrounding areas over the past several
days following the floods, businessmen warned on Monday of
considerable losses arising from the disaster.
Steve Sondakh, secretary-general of the Indonesian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said that the massive floods had
prompted businessmen to postpone trade transactions and
negotiations.
Talks on investment were also halted as foreign investors had
second thoughts about coming to Jakarta, Steve said.
In addition, he said, companies could not operate fully as
their plants were inundated by the floodwaters. Their woes were
compounded by the fact that many workers had failed to turn up
for work.
"In the macroeconomic sense, this is a national disaster. And
the losses will be immense should the floods continue," Steve,
who also a director of the Hero supermarket chain, remarked.
Social and economic activities in the capital over the past
few days have been virtually paralyzed due to the massive floods,
which are considered by many as the worst in Jakarta's history.
While the peak of the flooding occurred last Friday, the
Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said that rain would
continue to fall until the middle of this month.
This has raised fears that the worst of the disaster may yet
be to come.
Siswono Yudhohusodo, chairman of the Indonesian Farmers
Association, said that the country's rice output could fall by
five percent this year due to the floods that had inundated key
rice producing areas, such as the north coast of Java island,
Bali and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
"I have just received a report that 17,000 hectares of rice
fields in Karawang, West Java, have been washed away. We predict
that the area of rice fields affected by the floods will actually
be greater than this," Siswono said during a hearing with the
House of Representatives' Commission III for agriculture and food
affairs.
He warned that the government's unhusked rice output target of
53 million tons this year would not be met due to the floods,
citing that prior to the flooding farmers had been reluctant to
plant rice due to high fertilizer prices and low prices for their
crops.
Separately, Djimanto, the secretary-general of the Association
of Indonesian Footwear Manufacturers, said that around 10 percent
of shoe factories, or nine out of 90 shoes factories in the
country, had halted their operations due to the floods.
The shoes factories affected were located in flood-hit areas
of the Greater Jakarta region, such as Bekasi and Tangerang.
In addition, around 40 percent of manufactures had slowed down
their activities as their employees had failed to show up due to
the flooding. The delivery of raw materials had also been
obstructed.
"I have yet to receive any reports on the material losses to
date. So, I cannot give exact figures," Djimanto said.
If the floods continued until the end of this month, some shoe
manufacturers might have to move their production to Singapore to
ensure supplies to their buyers, he added.
Lili Asdjudiredja, director of the Indonesian Textile
Association (API) said the demand for textile products had
dropped drastically following the floods as people preferred to
spend their money on food supplies.
Like many other industries, the floods had hampered the
distribution of raw materials and damaged material stocked in the
factories.
"With this flooding, foreign buyers are reluctant to come to
Indonesia. This will further hurt our competitiveness, which is
already considered low," he remarked.
Elsewhere, Thomas Darmawan, chairman of the Indonesian Food
and Beverage Association, said that food and beverage
distribution in the capital had thus far remained normal despite
transportation problems.
"We have been anticipating high demand for the Chinese New
Year and the early days of the month. We had already dropped
supplies to supermarkets and markets before the floods hit," he
explained.
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Following the disruption of economic and commercial activities
in the capital and its surrounding areas over the past several
days following the floods, businessmen warned on Monday of
considerable losses arising from the disaster.
Steve Sondakh, secretary-general of the Indonesian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said that the massive floods had
prompted businessmen to postpone trade transactions and
negotiations.
Talks on investment were also halted as foreign investors had
second thoughts about coming to Jakarta, Steve said.
In addition, he said, companies could not operate fully as
their plants were inundated by the floodwaters. Their woes were
compounded by the fact that many workers had failed to turn up
for work.
"In the macroeconomic sense, this is a national disaster. And
the losses will be immense should the floods continue," Steve,
who also a director of the Hero supermarket chain, remarked.
Social and economic activities in the capital over the past
few days have been virtually paralyzed due to the massive floods,
which are considered by many as the worst in Jakarta's history.
While the peak of the flooding occurred last Friday, the
Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said that rain would
continue to fall until the middle of this month.
This has raised fears that the worst of the disaster may yet
be to come.
Siswono Yudhohusodo, chairman of the Indonesian Farmers
Association, said that the country's rice output could fall by
five percent this year due to the floods that had inundated key
rice producing areas, such as the north coast of Java island,
Bali and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.
"I have just received a report that 17,000 hectares of rice
fields in Karawang, West Java, have been washed away. We predict
that the area of rice fields affected by the floods will actually
be greater than this," Siswono said during a hearing with the
House of Representatives' Commission III for agriculture and food
affairs.
He warned that the government's unhusked rice output target of
53 million tons this year would not be met due to the floods,
citing that prior to the flooding farmers had been reluctant to
plant rice due to high fertilizer prices and low prices for their
crops.
Separately, Djimanto, the secretary-general of the Association
of Indonesian Footwear Manufacturers, said that around 10 percent
of shoe factories, or nine out of 90 shoes factories in the
country, had halted their operations due to the floods.
The shoes factories affected were located in flood-hit areas
of the Greater Jakarta region, such as Bekasi and Tangerang.
In addition, around 40 percent of manufactures had slowed down
their activities as their employees had failed to show up due to
the flooding. The delivery of raw materials had also been
obstructed.
"I have yet to receive any reports on the material losses to
date. So, I cannot give exact figures," Djimanto said.
If the floods continued until the end of this month, some shoe
manufacturers might have to move their production to Singapore to
ensure supplies to their buyers, he added.
Lili Asdjudiredja, director of the Indonesian Textile
Association (API) said the demand for textile products had
dropped drastically following the floods as people preferred to
spend their money on food supplies.
Like many other industries, the floods had hampered the
distribution of raw materials and damaged material stocked in the
factories.
"With this flooding, foreign buyers are reluctant to come to
Indonesia. This will further hurt our competitiveness, which is
already considered low," he remarked.
Elsewhere, Thomas Darmawan, chairman of the Indonesian Food
and Beverage Association, said that food and beverage
distribution in the capital had thus far remained normal despite
transportation problems.
"We have been anticipating high demand for the Chinese New
Year and the early days of the month. We had already dropped
supplies to supermarkets and markets before the floods hit," he
explained.