Manggarai floodgate prevents disaster

Manggarai floodgate prevents disaster

By Ida Indawaty Khouw

Floods have been a perennial visitor to Jakarta since at least
the 5th century. They are a recurrent nightmare for many city
residents and an opportunity for fun for children. They have even
etched a peculiar place in history; noted nature researcher
Junghuhn once failed to reach a ship on time when Batavia was
heavily inundated. The Manggarai floodgate in Central Jakarta has
long been a witness to the city's floods and played a part in
bringing them under control. This is the 17th article in a series
about Jakarta's historic sites and buildings, featured in the
Saturday editions of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): Many say Jakartans can thank the Dutch colonial
administration for constructing the durable Manggarai floodgate,
a fine legacy from their otherwise cruel colonial record.

Built about a century ago, the floodgate in the heart of the
city continues to function well.

The gate was initially built to ensure that Dutch residents,
living in the comfort of their designated suburbs in what is
present-day Menteng, were not disturbed by flooding.

Today, the floodgate is an equal opportunity protector in
helping city residents, rich and poor, ward off flooding.

"The Manggarai floodgate is so vital for the city as the main
point of water flow control. If the floodgate was never
constructed ... floods would routinely hit the city, even from a
drizzle," said Adi Sarwoko Soeronegoro, head of the Cisadane-
Ciliwung River Project of the Ministry of Public Works.

The floodgate, he said, was so well-built that the government
never had to make repairs.

"No major damage has ever been found," Adi added.

The floodgate, like many protected historic sites in the
country, is unfortunately absent from most extant historical
records.

The few records of one of the city's biggest floodgates give
contradictory versions of its history, even down to the year of
its construction.

The official record from the public works ministry states it
was constructed in 1914, and was used officially four years
later.

Canal

The former head of the ministry's directorate general of
irrigation, Soebandi, offered another version. He once wrote that
the Dutch floodgate was built in 1910 together with the
construction of a canal called Bandjir Kanaal (now Banjir Kanal
River). Both facilities, he said, were designed to help divert
the volume of water flowing into the Ciliwung River from the
south.

The measure freed the city's central areas from flooding.

A plaque placed on a side of the floodgate's wall states it
was built in the year MDMCCCCXIX, or 1919 (a book published by
the city administration mistakenly puts the date on the plaque as
MDMCCCXIX, or 1819).

The inscription on the 240-square-centimeter plaque also
expresses the gratitude of Batavians to H. van Breen, an engineer
from the public works ministry who constructed the gate.

Under the water-control system, the main areas in the city
center -- including Weltevreden (now around Lapangan Banteng area
in Central Jakarta), Koningsplein (Medan Merdeka park area in
Central Jakarta) and Molenvliet (the area of Jl. Hayam Wuruk and
Jl. Gajah Mada in Central Jakarta) -- were freed from floods.

According to Adi, the gate was designed and constructed by
Dutch engineers, but the main materials were shipped from
England.

A small mark on one of the gate's concrete pillars confirmed
the materials were produced in England.

Adi added that up to the present the Banjir Kanal was the only
canal in the city which channeled the flood stream from the "city
centers".

A prominent scholar on old Jakarta, Ridwan Saidi, said the
colonial government paid serious attention to floods because the
Dutch settlements were built on land much lower than the southern
part of Batavia.

As with today, the floods were also a health hazard, giving
rise to cholera, malaria and skin diseases. Residents also
drowned in heavy flooding.

According to Ridwan, the floodgate project was part of the
large-scale construction works by the Dutch government. It was
carried out in conjunction with the construction of the Banjir
Kanal and nearby Manggarai Railway Station.

"In the same period, the Dutch also built several projects,
particularly the development of sugar mills in West Java, Central
Java and East Java."

The construction of the projects in Manggarai was a boon to
the local population.

"The locals' agricultural business in the Pasar Minggu area in
South Jakarta boomed due to the better transportation. They could
use trains to transport fruit from Manggarai to the Sawah Besar
and Nordwijk (Jl. Juanda) areas without being bothered by
flooding anymore," he said.

'Jongos'

The name Manggarai originates from an area in East Nusa
Tenggara, and it was picked by the colonial administration. The
local Betawi people christened the area Pasar Rumput, according
to Ridwan.

In the 17th century, he said, Manggarai was known as a slave
market. The slaves were shipped from East Nusa Tenggara's
Manggarai, which became associated with the area in Jakarta. They
were put on open sale for the Dutch, who would later use them as
jongos (male household servers).

"The slaves from Manggarai were displayed on an open stage
located on the spot of what is now Pasaraya shopping center."

Ridwan said the Betawi people were loathe to call the area
Manggarai because it was connected to slavery and the degradation
of people.

"The area was also the center for trading grass, which in
Indonesian means rumput, for husbandry. That's why the area is
also called Pasar Rumput."

Flood history

Instead of being properly maximized to serve residents, the
city's 13 rivers have only been a bane to the people and the
authorities.

Almost no year is free from the incidence of flooding, with
the city continually blaming the topography of the city.

About 40 percent of the city's 650 square kilometers is
lowland, they said. Data from Ministry of Public Works reveal
that several spots in North Jakarta were even one meter below sea
level.

Published sources said floods were recorded in the capital as
early as the 5th century, described in an ancient inscription
from the Tarumanagara Kingdom.

Soebandi said floods started hitting old Jakarta in the 17th
century. They have been a serious problem for Batavians since the
late 19th century, with the Dutch forced to build floodgates at
Katulampa in Bogor, Karet in Central Jakarta and other areas.

A devastating flood hit the city in 1876 when the Ciliwung
River, the city's largest, burst its banks.

Fighting the floods has been an ongoing issue for Jakarta's
dozens of governors, from the colonial administration until now.
It remains a nagging headache, but the Manggarai floodgate,
strong and sturdy as ever, has helped to lessen the pain.