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.