Shelters still unavailable as floods begin to hit

M. Taufiqurrahman and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After heavy rainfall in Jakarta since early this week, flood victims in Penjaringan subdistrict, North Jakarta, complained about the absence of temporary shelters although the city administration had distributed a Rp 10 million (US$1,176) relief fund.

"There were neither shelters nor public kitchens for flood victims in this area. We have to use our own initiative to get help," one of the flood victims told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Water in the subdistrict reached up to 80 centimeters high, swamping eight community units and forcing hundreds of people to seek refuge on higher ground.

The situation in the field contrasted with a statement by a subdistrict officer who said that it had established six shelters for flood victims in the neighborhood.

"As soon as water started to inundated the area, we had evacuated them to the shelters," claimed Joni, the subdistrict deputy chief.

However, he declined to provide further information on the fund allocated to help flood victims.

The administration distributed the relief fund to 186 chiefs of flood-prone subdistricts across the city. It also distributed cellular phones and prepaid cards and also two-way radios to enable subdistrict chiefs to communicate better with the Jakarta Flood Mitigation Agency.

However, the equipment may be of little use because the flood mitigation task force at subdistrict level still have to follow the bureaucratic chain of command.

Jumani, subdistrict chief of flood-prone Kramat in Central Jakarta, said that residents must report to their community unit head first who will later forward the report to the subdistrict.

He argued that such a mechanism would ease the burden of officers at the subdistrict level.

Separately, head of the flood mitigation task force at City Hall, Soebagio, said that the existing crisis center did not have a role in handling the current floods. He said that an integrated crisis center would be set up to better serve the public.

"I have proposed an allocation of Rp 200 billion from the city budget to build an integrated crisis center for floods, fire and other emergencies. If the City Council approves our proposal, I hope the center will be completed within three years," he said.

Soebagio said that the City Public Works Agency had been assigned to continuously monitor the water level at sluice gates across the city, Depok and Katulampa dam in Bogor. When officers at the agency receive information, they will relay it to the agency officers in five municipalities who later on inform district chiefs. The district chiefs will in turn inform subdistrict chiefs who are responsible to inform residents. The agency must also report to City Hall.

City Hall will take over when the situation is declared Siaga II (Alert Level 2), one level below the red alert when Jakarta is totally submerged.