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.