Floods swamp Jakarta, death toll hits 14

Floods swamp Jakarta, death toll hits 14

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The floods resulting from the torrential rains that have
swamped the Greater Jakarta area over the last five days left the
city paralyzed on Wednesday as millions of people were trapped
either in their homes or in the massive traffic jams that
gridlocked the city's highways.

More and more areas were affected by the floods -- apparently
the worst in Jakarta's history. The water reached up to six
meters in some places, and most parts of the city were to some
degree affected.

The inundations also claimed more lives, with the deaths of
six more people being reported on Wednesday, bringing the total
number of fatalities to 14.

Many residents whose homes were affected by the floods chose
not to go work or to school, while many others were unable to
leave their homes at all as access roads were inundated.

Those who braved the rain and the traffic jams frequently
failed to reach their destinations on time due to the traffic
jams.

As a result, activities in both private sector and government
offices and institutions were disrupted as many employees failed
to reach work on time, or did not arrive at all.

One employee working in an office in Palmerah, Central
Jakarta, only reached work six hours after leaving his home in
Bekasi at 1 p.m. "It's really stressful. I've never experienced
anything like it before," he said.

There were many others who aborted their journeys to work
after being trapped for hours.

"I left my home in Serpong, Tangerang, at 6:30 a.m, but at 12
p.m. I was still on the road. I decided to turn back and go home
instead," said Rio Napitupulu, who works on Jl. Sudirman, Central
Jakarta.

He condemned the city administration for not issuing timely
announcements to warn residents, thus causing him to waste time
and energy.

Almost all of the airplanes that departed from the Soekarno-
Hatta airport were delayed due to late arrivals of airline crew.

"Some flights were delayed yesterday. But today, there are
many, many departures that were delayed for at least one hour,"
an airport officer said on Wednesday night.

Traffic was disrupted in almost all parts of the city,
including Jl. Gatot Subroto, Jl. HR Rasuna Said and some toll
roads leading from Jakarta's satellite cities of Tangerang,
Bekasi and Bogor.

Jakarta is home to at least 8.3 million people, but during the
day that number reaches over 11 million when commuters from the
city's hinterlands are counted.

Adi, a student of the SMU 54 high school in Jatinegara, East
Jakarta, said the students in her school were told to go home
early as their teachers were unable to reach the school due to
the traffic jams.

The floods also forced district courts to postpone sittings as
a number of judges failed to appear.

The South Jakarta District Court was scheduled to announce its
verdict on defendants Dedi Sutaedi Yusuf and Ferry Hukom, the
former bodyguards of Tommy Soeharto who were charged with
document forgery. But the delivery of the verdict was delayed as
presiding judge Soedarto's home in the Bintaro area of South
Jakarta was flooded.

Most hearings in the district court, which usually start at 10
a.m, began at 1 p.m. as many court employees were late.

An employee of a company in the Kelapa Gading area of North
Jakarta said that only 50 percent of the employees had shown up
for work. "We weren't able to carry on as usual," she said.

There were also some residents who moved out of their flooded
homes to stay in hotels.

Leni Masita, a housewife in Pluit, North Jakarta, said on
Wednesday morning that she would check into a hotel later in the
day as the water level in her house kept on rising.

The latest floods to hit the city are the worst in Jakarta's
history in terms of the area affected and number of people
displaced. Currently, the flooding is affecting 29 districts out
of the total number of 37 districts in the city's five
mayoralties.

At least 30,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.

Massive flooding also hit the city in 1996, claiming at least
11 lives. At that time, the water level also reached six meters
in places, with the worst affected areas being along the Ciliwung
river, which traverses the city.

On Wednesday, public transportation was curtailed as many
drivers refused to operate their vehicles due to the traffic
jams.

"The numerous 'Pak Ogah' in the street make the traffic worse.
Everyone wants their help," said a driver referring to street
children who direct traffic in the hope of being given tips.

Meanwhile, State Minister for the Environment Nabiel
Makarim urged people not to go out except on essential business.
Otherwise, they could end up being trapped in the traffic jams.

He told reporters after visiting some of the flooded areas by
helicopter that the current floods in the Greater Jakarta area
were the result of years of massive negligence in city planning
and law enforcement, which had led to major environmental
degradation.

"Lack of catchment and greenbelt areas, improper building
development, lack of city planning and weak law enforcement have
all contributed to the floods," he said.