Residents relieved as rains recede, but future still cloudy

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The recent heavy rains have been lessening over the last week; a welcome respite for the people whose houses were inundated by the big floods last month.

Confirmation that the peak of the rainy season peak has passed was received from an official of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's (BMG) on Saturday.

"The peak of the rainy season came a little later than our forecast in early January. Now there will be less rain in the upcoming months," said a BMG official, who requested anonymity.

The rainy season reached its peak at the end of January, causing three-week floods in the capital and paralyzing all activities for over one week.

Flood victims, exhausted by the huge clean up after the floods are relieved. However, they also warned the Jakarta administration to learn from its mistakes and lack of preparedness and also urged it to start taking real action to prevent floods in the future.

"The administration must not forget their responsibility to the flood victims," said Adrianus, a resident of Jl. Bukit Duri Utara in Manggarai subdistrict, South Jakarta.

He blamed the administration for failing to warn residents to take precautions before the floods hit the city.

Adrianus's neighbor, Cipto, urged the administration to keep providing assistance for flood victims as they need to get on with their lives.

"The administration had announced that it would give financial help to the victims to renovate damaged houses. So far, it's only an empty promise," he said.

Their houses, which are located near the Ciliwung river, were inundated by two-meter high floodwaters. Despite the fact that the waters had begun to recede last week, they still have to repair the houses.

"I'll repair the house as soon as the water really recedes. I'm lucky I have savings for the repair work but what about the poor?" questioned Adrianus, who has allocated Rp 5 million (US$490) to repair his house.

Governor Sutiyoso had announced that the administration would disburse money to help owners whose houses were damaged, with the exception of the squatters along riverbanks. However his words have yet to become a reality.

Until now, some parts of the city, particularly Kapuk Muara subdistrict, North Jakarta, are still inundated.

More than 25 people, mostly toddlers, died after suffering diarrhea following the floods.

Critics have admonished the administration which violated its own master plan by allowing developers to build luxury housing complexes -- triggered by the development of Pantai Indah Kapuk in North Jakarta -- in greenbelt and catchment areas.

Governor Sutiyoso, who refused to step down following his failure to manage the floods, preferred to condemn nature saying that floods occurred in Jakarta in a five-year cycle.

His administration failed to help people handle the floods despite its annual allocation of funds to curb the problem. This year, the administration has allocated Rp 294 billion from the city budget for flood control and prevention.