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.