Jakarta, home to annual flooding

Who's to blame for the flooding that has inundated some areas of Jakarta recently? Flooding is familiar to Jakartans, as well as those from other parts of the country, during the rainy season.

When flooding hit the capital in the 1990s it claimed several lives; environmental reasons were cited as the underlying cause.

The lack of open areas as water catchments, ill-managed domestic and industrial waste and land reclamation at coastal areas were mentioned as possible causes of flooding.

Environmentalists and the administration have long been well aware of the dangers of flooding but little has been done to address the problem in a meaningful way.

The government, with many other problems to address, cannot be singled out as solely responsible, as too many people choose -- often with few other realistic options -- to live along riverbanks. There is also an ongoing tug-of-war between the administration and city residents on where the city's waste should be dumped.

Coping with flooding has therefore become part of the annual routine of Jakartans living in certain areas of the city, mostly slum neighborhoods, close to rivers. --Text and photos by P.J. Leo