Houses on stilts recommended to conquer flooding

Houses on stilts recommended to conquer flooding

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the Jakarta administration has been in the process of
clearing some riverbanks of squatters, who have been partially
blamed for the annual flooding in the capital, an
environmentalist suggested that they build the squatters houses
on stilts.

Rudy P. Tambunan stated in a dissertation for his doctoral
degree that instead of evicting so many people, which could cause
social unrest as has been the case over the last several years,
"adapting to the flood is a better alternative".

"Of course, the city administration should conduct a study to
be able to determine which areas are feasible for residential
housing and those that need to be totally cleared," he told The
Jakarta Post on the sidelines of his promotional ceremony as a
doctor from the University of Indonesia in Salemba, Central
Jakarta, on Saturday.

Jakarta has 78 flood-prone areas along the banks of 13 rivers
that flow through its five municipalities.

Flooding has become an annual occurrence in the city during
the wet season, with 40 percent of Jakarta at or below sea level
and an outdated, ineffective drainage system.

The city suffered its worst flood in decades in 2002, which
paralyzed two-thirds of the capital, killed 31 people and forced
300,000 residents to leave their homes for temporary shelters.

In his research, Tambunan found that over half of the 78
flood-prone areas could still be maintained as residential
housing areas with some adjustments.

"For example, residents in flood-prone areas should place
their belongings on the upper level of their house and use their
lower level rooms as places to receive guests," he deduced in his
dissertation.

While quoting Ridwan Saidi, an expert on Betawi -- native
Jakartan -- cultures, Tambunan said that houses on stilts had
been adopted by earlier residents living along riverbanks and
beaches in Jakarta during the era of Dutch colonial rule.

In his dissertation, Tambunan also proposed that the new city
spatial plan should exclude river floodplains as areas from
development projects so there will be more water catchment areas
in the city.

He found that over 75 percent of the floodplains along the 13
city rivers had been occupied by buildings -- houses, offices and
malls -- as the current spatial plan failed to protect those
areas.

He argued that by designating the floodplains off limits for
construction, it would be one of three ways to deal with
flooding, in addition to providing flood-prevention facilities,
such as better canals and drainage ditches, and relocating
residents that live in the flood-prone areas.

"Constructing more efficient drainage systems can be costly,
and it can be even more costly to relocate people as the
government must provide land and homes for thousands of people.
That is why the flood plains should be protected but could have
houses on stilts," Tambunan remarked.

The city administration has long planned to build new canals
to control five of the 13 rivers flowing through eastern Jakarta
to help stop the flooding. However, the construction of the major
East Flood canal has been held up, reportedly due to land
acquisition problems.

The only flood-control canal the city has is the West Flood
Canal, which was built by the Dutch administration several
decades ago to ease flooding in the western part of the city.
Most segments of the canal, however, have narrowed considerably
and become silted up as thousands of squatters occupy its banks.