North Jakarta suffering more flooding now than in the past

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Flooding in North Jakarta is worse now than in the past, and residents want to know who they should hold responsible for the situation.

"We suffered flooding only once a month during the rainy season in previous years. We have already seen flooding three times this season," said Sunarti, 40, who lives along the river in Muara Baru, North Jakarta.

Muara Baru was hit by severe flooding from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1. Floodwaters reached 80 cm in height and forced many residents to take shelter.

Her neighbor, Harto, 41, said he was born and raised in the area and was sure that there was more flooding now than in previous years.

"I think our area has become a water catchment site for the areas surrounding us. A new dam was built not far away from here and they let the water from Bogor flow into our area."

The area is surrounded by office buildings, luxury houses and factories. On its western side is the Sunda Kelapa port and an industrial area, and the Pantai Mutiara residential complex stands to the northwest. Numerous office buildings border the area to the south.

A resident of the nearby Muara Angke said his neighborhood was inundated every time the tide was higher than usual.

"At least once a month we experience a small flood, reaching 10 centimeters in height. But if the high tide combines with a heavy rain then it is guaranteed that we will have a heavy flood," said Hardjo, 50, a fish seller.

Muara Angke is a traditional residential area that is surrounded by the Pantai Indah Kapuk housing estate.

Meanwhile, one of the residents of the Muara Kapuk area, just south of Muara Angke, Tarwih, 44, said that his area is flooded almost three or four times a week during the current rainy season.

"The flood is not high, reaching only our toes but we have to be careful because we had a half-body height flood during the the New Year's Eve," said Tarwih.

Environmental analysts have blamed the increased flooding on the construction of housing estates in the area, which have destroyed water catchment areas along the coast.

Others analysts have blamed the situation on a reclamation project involving 2,700 hectares of land along the north coast to construct industrial zones, housing and hotels.