Residents in Rawabuaya reluctant to leave houses

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Suparmanto and his wife refuse to seek refuge in government shelters, even though knee-height water has inundated their home in Rawabuaya subdistrict, Cengkareng, West Jakarta, since Wednesday.

"I will not leave my house as long as the water hasn't submerged our bed. I don't want thieves to break into our house while we're staying at the shelters. But I'm always alert for any eventuality," the 45-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Saturday inside his 50-square-meter house.

Having lived in the neighborhood since the late 1980s, the family decided to ignore the warning from the administration to immediately leave the subdistrict, one of the city's flood-prone areas.

Suparmanto and his neighbors were prepared for the annual flooding: They elevated the feet of the bed up to one meter high.

Flooding in Rawabuaya subdistrict is caused by the overflowing of the Mookervart River and Cengkareng Drain.

But Suparmanto said the current flood was not as serious as the one in early 2002 when all residents there were forced to flee.

"At that time, the water reached the ceiling. We took refuge in Cengkareng market, around one kilometer from here," said the father of two who is from Ngawi, East Java.

Less than 20 families from the neighborhood occupied the shelters prepared by the subdistrict administration, most of whom have small children. Several other residents stayed at relatives' houses, according to Suparmanto.

Another resident, Ulfah, 41, stayed in the inundated house with her two children -- an elementary school student and a senior high school student. "We slept on the tables," she said.

Governor Sutiyoso had issued warnings for the residents to leave their houses as soon as the flood mitigation task force announced an emergency situation in a bid to ease the evacuation.

Many residents in other parts of the city opted to stay on the second floor of their houses, and were trapped there when the water rose.

Around 20,000 people across the city were evacuated after their houses were inundated by water, following three days of torrential rain in the city and the upper water catchments of Puncak, Bogor and Depok.

Several areas in East Jakarta like Kampung Melayu, Cipinang Muara, and Cililitan as well areas in South Jakarta like Manggarai, Tebet and Cawang, were affected most by this year's rain. The water reached up to three meter high in Cililitan Kecil.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency estimated that heavy rains would take place through to late February.

"We have no worries ... we know how to save ourselves. The water level rose slowly here ... there is still time to evacuate," Ulfah added.