Marsan simply watches Ciliwung River level
Marsan simply watches Ciliwung River level
By Johannes Simbolon/Gedsiri Suhartono
JAKARTA (JP): His name is Marsan. He lives by the polluted Ciliwung River near the Panus bridge in Depok.
His job is simple. He watches and then reports the water level at the bridge. His job is so simple that his fellow villagers are quick to state: "Marsan sleeps but gets a salary from the government."
You don't need a university degree to do his job.
"I am only a junior high school's dropout," he says.
Simple as his job is, Marsan is crucial to the safety of the hundreds of thousands of Jakartans living along the Ciliwing River.
Flood conditions can be seen at the Panus bridge six hours before the flood waters hit Jakarta, 35.5 kilometers away.
"I must stay alert around the clock. Otherwise, the flood will come unannounced," he says.
The Ciliwung is one of 13 murky rivers that meander through Jakarta. It is the third largest, after the Cisadane and Citarum. A recent flood on the river killed six people and submerged thousands of houses.
Originating on Mt. Talaga near Tugu village in Bogor, the river makes its way to Jakarta past the Katulampa dam in Ciawi, Bogor and the Panus bridge in Depok.
The water level is first monitored at the Katulampa dam, and then again by Marsan or his cousin Imih at Panus bridge.
It takes three hours for flood waters to travel the 32 kilometers between Katulampa and Panus.
"My job is watching the watermark and radioing the level to the flood monitoring headquarters in Jatibaru, Tanah Abang, and the flood control station in Manggarai," Marsan explains, pointing to the scale painted on the bulwark of the Panus bridge.
The sturdy bridge was built by the Dutch around 1917.
The black and yellow scale goes from 60 to 400 centimeters.
During rainy season, from November to March, the level is normally between 120 to 150 centimeters. During the dry season it drops to between 60 and 100 centimeters, says Marsan.
"Jakarta will experience a flood if the water reaches 200 centimeters," he explains.
A flood at that level is considered normal by people living near the river, where flooding is a daily part of life.
Last month's floods were beyond routine. The water level at Panus swept above the 400 centimeter mark.
"The scale was totally covered. After the flood, I took a measure and found that the water level was 435 centimeters," he says.
It surpassed the big floods of 1976 and 1980, which reached 310 and 370 centimeters, says Marsan.
The 39-year-old Marsan can predict a flood by looking at the sky. The father of three has developed his flood instinct so sharply that he instantly wakes up when a flood is coming.
Marsan has been officially working at Panus since 1975, but assisted his grandfather much earlier.
He inherited the job from his grandfather. They lived together in a small hut under the bridge after Marsan's father died and his mother remarried.
"As a boy, I often accompanied my grandfather to phone in our report to Jatibaru and Manggarai. Depok was still an empty and dark area. We walked with a flashlight from the bridge for two kilometers to the nearest phone," he recalls.
After his grandfather retired in 1974, the government gave him the job because "no one was interested in the boring job," he says.
The situation has changed. Marsan and his family live in a government house near the bridge. He doesn't need to walk kilometers to send his reports because he has been provided with a two-way radio.
"Sometimes, however, if the electricity is off, I can't use the radio and must go find a public phone," he explains.
The facilities would be useless, however, if Marsan was not dedicated to his work. He could slack off if he wanted, sine he has no one to watch him, but he never leaves his station.
"For me, work is number one. I prefer it to my family. If my child fell ill when a flood was coming, I would choose observing the river," he asserts.
His dedication gets him high marks on his assessment report.