Jakartans powerless in facing seasonal floods

Jakartans powerless in facing seasonal floods

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While many cities in the world have managed to make rivers an
integral part of tourist attractions, Jakarta residents still see
rivers as a serious problem, particularly during the wet season.

During the wet season, floods haunt thousands of people living
along the riverbanks. Many of them are even forced to flee their
houses when heavy rainfall occurs not in the city, but in
upstream areas like Depok and Bogor in West Java, the origin of
many rivers that flow here.

The lack of commitment to dredge the rivers and to keep them
clean is shown by nearly all levels of society in the city.

Businesspeople and the common people alike dispose of both
liquid and solid waste into the rivers, seriously hampering the
water flow and worsening floods.

There has not been any significant move from the authorities
to improve the condition of the 13 main rivers crossing the city.

Most areas along the riverbanks are occupied by illegal
squatters. When they were still only a few in number, no action
was taken by the administration. And now, efforts to evict them
are fruitless as the government has neither provided them with a
place to relocate nor given them compensation.

Their presence has caused an impasse in many rivers that
aggravates flooding.

Therefore, as the wet season is approaching, the feeling of
anxiety haunts many Jakarta people.

Officials at the city administration have repeatedly said that
they are not able to overcome the problem. They say that in the
next wet season that will reach its peak in January and February,
they can only focus on how to minimize the economic losses that
will be caused by the annual flooding and provide food and
medicine for its victims.

Although it is likely that the next floods will not be as huge
as the last flood, many officials admit that the majority of
flood-prone areas will still be affected.

Almost two-thirds of Jakarta was inundated to some degree in
the last floods that affected more than 300,000 people -- mostly
the marginalized people -- in 168 subdistricts of 42 districts
out of the city's 53 districts. The disaster, believed to be the
worst since the country's independence, resulted in the death of
more than 30 people and caused Rp 10 trillion in losses.

The City Public Work Agency has spent around Rp 224 billion
this year in flood prevention measures, such as improving street
drainage, yet head of the Public Works Agency IGKG Suena said
that the agency could only improve conditions in five of the 78
areas that are always hit by flooding during the wet season.

"What we have done so far will not significantly ease flooding
in the city this year. We are now only waiting for the central
government to honor its commitment to alleviate floods in the
city," Suena told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.

He was referring to the pledge of the central government to
finance the development of the 23-kilometer long Eastern Flood
Canal the construction of which been delayed since the 1970s.

The central government always argues that it has no money for
such a project, which according to Suena would cost less than Rp
4 trillion, far below the Rp 10 trillion in economic losses
caused by last February's floods.

Suena stressed that the city administration could not resolve
flood problems comprehensively without help from the central
government, as it needs a lot of money.

Citing a statement made by head of the State Minister for
National Development/head of the National Development Planning
Agency Kwik Kian Gie, Suena said some Rp 17 trillion is needed to
totally eliminate flooding in the city.

The funds will be used to construct the 23-long Eastern Flood
Canal, to build flats for resettling people occupying riverbanks,
and to dredge rivers and canals, among many other plans.

The Eastern Flood Canal, along with the Western Flood Canal,
are needed to drain all of the city's main rivers. When
completed, the two canals will form a semicircle from the western
part of North Jakarta to the eastern part of East Jakarta.

The 17-kilometer Western Flood Canal was developed by the
Dutch in the early 1900s, with its sluice at Manggarai, South
Jakarta. The width of the channel, however, has grown
considerably, which has decreased the volume of water passing
through the canal.

Jakarta historian Adolf Heuken refutes the government's claim
that it lacks the funds for flood control efforts.

"It is a matter of seriousness. The financial constraints have
been put forward as an argument by government officials over the
past few decades," said Heuken, adding that the real reason
behind the delay is that the flood control project has never been
a government priority.

Maybe Heuken is right. The authorities do not seem to take it
seriously. Two government agencies directly concerned with floods
in the city: the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional
Infrastructure and the Jakarta Public Works Agency, do not even
have complete data on the 13 main rivers in the city.

Worse, environmental damage both in the upstream areas like
Puncak, Bogor regency in West Java, and in Jakarta itself is
uncontrollable.

Bogor officials have demanded compensation from Jakarta if
they are not permitted to develop the upstream areas.

As for Jakarta, there is no indication that the city
administration has the intention to maintain the already
dwindling green areas, as violations of land use policy
continues.

"Jakarta has a city plan, but violations are common, therefore
it is not surprising that city development is growing
uncontrollably," Heuken said.

It seems that the hope of Jakarta citizens to be free from the
annual floods is still a distant dream as there are no positive
indications that their dream will become reality.