Jakarta squatters unaware they are part of the problem
Jakarta squatters unaware they are part of the problem
Lani, 35, will never forget the floods earlier this year that
destroyed almost all of her family's belongings. She recalls how
they failed to save their 14-inch television, the most valuable
item they owned.
"How can I forget the disaster with nearly all of our
belongings ruined," said Lani, a resident of Cipinang Besar
Selatan subdistrict, East Jakarta, who lives just behind
Cipinang Penitentiary.
Lani, whose house sits along the banks of the Cipinang River,
said floods also hit her neighborhood in May this year, a time
when most of the rest of the city was free of flooding.
She said flooding in the area could occur at anytime depending
on the volume of rain in Bogor, West Jakarta, where the river
originates.
Lani and her family, as well as thousands of other people,
should be prepared for the next round of flooding, which is
likely to occur in January and February.
Like other rivers in the city, bottlenecks along the Cipinang
River pose major problems during the rainy season and often
contribute to flooding.
Every river in the city that runs through dense subdistricts
like Kampung Rambutan, Cipinang Besar Utara, Cipinang Besar
Selatan and Cipinang Muara is bordered by the walls and fences of
houses.
This has become a serious problem because it impedes the flow
of water in the rivers, which can quickly lead to flooding during
the rainy season.
And many of the thousands of people who live along riverbanks
are unaware that they are part of the problem. Worse, many of
these people also are not aware that throwing domestic waste into
the rivers can aggravate flooding.
Cipinang River, along with four other rivers -- Cakung,
Jatikramat, Buaran and Sunter -- are meant to control flooding in
the eastern part of the capital.
But the construction of the Eastern Flood Canal to accommodate
water from the rivers during the rainy season has never been
carried out, because, according to the government, there is no
money for the project.
The 36-kilometer Cipinang River originates in a hilly area
some 100 meters above sea level, about three kilometers north of
Cibinong in Bogor regency, West Java. It has some 48.5 square
kilometers of catchment area.
Entering Jakarta through Cibubur subdistrict in East Jakarta,
the Cipinang River flows through a number of other subdistricts
in East Jakarta, including Ciracas, Kampung Rambutan, Dukuh,
Kramatjati, Makasar, Kebon Pala, Cipinang Besar Selatan and
Cipinang Muara.
Cipinang River joins with the Sunter River in Cipinang
district before finally emptying into Jakarta Bay in Tanjung
Priok, North Jakarta. --Bambang Nurbianto