Manggarai floodgate protects the rich
Manggarai floodgate protects the rich
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso tried to calm hundreds of angry
flood victims by partially opening the Manggarai floodgate in
Central Jakarta on Friday.
Sutiyoso's move revealed a long-suspected bias that the
floodgate, which functions to accommodate the Ciliwung river,
protects the rich and powerful on the northern side of the gate
from floods and lets those in its southern part to suffer from
the deluge.
The victims, who mostly live in slums around the floodgate
almost ran amok on Friday because they could no longer bear the
regular annual floods.
The governor admitted that opening the gate, even only 20
centimeters, could affect the area around the National Monument
(Monas) park, including the presidential palace on Jl. Medan
Merdeka Utara.
Other areas, which will be first hit by the flood if the
floodgate is opened, include the elite Menteng district in
Central Jakarta, where many of the country's leaders live. Among
them are President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who lives on Jl. Teuku
Umar; Vice President Hamzah Haz, who live on Jl. Diponegoro as
well as Sutiyoso, who lives on Jl. Taman Suropati.
Former president Soeharto and his family live on Jl. Cendana
and other roads also in the Menteng area.
The official residences of several foreign ambassadors are
also located in the area, which was set up as an exclusive
housing complex during the Dutch colonial era.
Manggarai floodgate was also designed by the Dutch and built
in 1918. The floodgate's construction marked the completion of
the development of the 17-kilometer West Flood Canal, which
functions to take in water from the city's 13 rivers before they
empty into the Java sea.
It is still unclear whether the Dutch really designed the
floodgate to protect only the rich and powerful people at that
time.
The floodgate has three gates: two gates for the West Flood
Canal and one gate for the Ciliwung river.
The West Flood Canal which also accommodates water from the
Ciliwung river, passes along Jl. Latuharhari and Cideng area in
West Jakarta before it flows into the sea in North Jakarta.
The waters of the Ciliwung river are also taken in by another
canal through the Cikini area in Menteng district and Gambir area
near the State Palace. Before reaching the palace, the flow of
water will be halted by another floodgate near the Istiqlal
Mosque.
The Manggarai and Istiqlal floodgates are among the city's 37
floodgates, which were built along the city's 13 rivers. Thirty-
five of the floodgates are more than 30 years old while two of
the gates were built recently.