Riverbank residents ready to face this year's floods

JAKARTA (JP): Considering it a regular activity, city residents living in flood-prone areas have made necessary preparations to "welcome" the upcoming rainy season.

Residents said on Thursday that floods had been part of their lives, that there was nothing for them to complain about.

"What we can do as poor families is just to find ways to survive. Otherwise, we should just move to Pondok Indah (an elite estate in South Jakarta)," said Fitri, whose house is located on the Ciliwung riverbank in the Bukit Duri subdistrict of East Jakarta.

She said residents living along the riverbanks were always on the alert to save their belongings because local community leaders had always warned of the possibility of incoming floods.

"Officials at the Depok floodgate always inform our community leaders whenever they plan to open the gate.

"The move means that the water will flow into the Ciliwung river. And hours later the area will be hit by flood," she said.

Like almost all of her neighbors, Fitri would immediately make preparations, putting electronic goods such as television sets, radio's and electronics fan in higher places.

"We have been accustomed to keeping important documents in a special box in the upper part of the room and wrapping them with plastic," she said.

Preparations have been made by residents in the neighborhood, recently affected by heavy rainfalls.

Most of the residents have two-story houses, made of lower quality plywood, which is wrapped with formica to protect it from water.

Risyad, another Bukit Duri resident, said that the residents could even predict the flood level after the announcement from the community leaders.

"Officials at the floodgate also always inform us about the water level which will flow into our area so that we know how we should prepare ourselves," he said.

Different preparations were made by residents of the Tengkis slum area close to the Ancol Dreamland Park in North Jakarta, where even during the dry season the water level of the murky Ciliwung river was just several inches below the nearby Gunung Sahari street.

No complicated preparations were made by the poor families to avoid the flood. They moved to a nearby unused railway area, which is higher than their original place, and just scattered their belongings there.

"We have nothing precious to save from the floods as we only have household appliances," said housewife Sakem in her six square meter shack.

Sakem, a scavenger, said she repeatedly suffered from skin diseases after the floods.

"But, I will take it easy. I just need to soak my feet in a hot, salty water, and it will be cured," said the illiterate mother of one boy who even did not know her own age.

Another scavenger, Nano, said the only difficulty for the approximate 150 families during the flood was that they could hardly find any rubbish to sell.

"There is nothing to be worried about when the floods come as they have become a routine for us," said Nano. (ind)