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