Residents can expect more flooded roads

Residents can expect more flooded roads

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Officials have warned residents to expect flooded streets
throughout the rainy season, which is expected to peak sometime
in December.

"Flooded roads will be common during the rainy season because
the water cannot subside quickly enough due to the poor drainage
system," the head of the Jakarta Public Works Agency, Wisnu
Subagyo Yusuf, said during a hearing with City Council's
Commission D overseeing development affairs.

Wisnu blamed the poor drainage on the badly coordinated
construction of underground networks belonging to different
institutions, including water pipes, gas pipes and phone cables,
which often crisscross the drainage tunnels.

"When there is a heavy rain, these crisscrossed networks lead
to clogged tunnels that are all blocked up by the garbage swept
away by the rainwater," he said.

He said the area around Sarinah on Jl. Thamrin was often
flooded after just brief downpours because the water was unable
to drain away from east to west through Jl. Sunda, Jl. Wahid
Hasyim, Jl. Kebon Sirih and Cideng.

"We need to move these networks (of pipes and cables) so they
do not obstruct our drainage system," he said.

Drainage is a major problem in the city because 40 percent of
Jakarta's land area is below sea level. In addition, 13 major
rivers pass through the city, adding to the drainage woes.

At least 78 areas in the city are prone to flooding, most in
North Jakarta. Although the administration has placed at least
112 water pumps in these areas, residents continue to complain of
flooding following heavy rain.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency has forecast that the
rainy season will peak in December.

The agency said massive floods could sweep through the city if
heavy rains fall on Jakarta and the upstream areas of Bogor in
West Java for at least three consecutive days.

The worst flooding in Jakarta's modern history took place in
early 2002, when two-thirds of the city was underwater. Thirty-
one people died in the flooding and over 300,000 people were
forced out of their homes. Jakarta was paralyzed for nearly a
month, with virtually all activities coming to a halt.

The Jakarta Public Works Agency said it had hired several
private companies to dredge Pluit reservoir, Tomang Barat
reservoir and the Item River, and to erect concrete piles along
riverbanks in the city to help prevent flooding.