South Jakarta floods the worst in ten years

South Jakarta floods the worst in ten years

JAKARTA (JP): Monday's flooding in the Pesanggrahan district
was called the worst in 10 years, backing up traffic in Cipulir
and Bintaro, South Jakarta.

The area, especially the Bintaro subdistrict, is familiar with
floods, but this November's floods have been the heaviest since
1985, said Chairuddin C.S., chief of the subdistrict. He cited
the IKPN and the foreign ministry housing complexes as the worst
hit.

In the Pesanggrahan district, the Ulujami, Bintaro and
Pesanggrahan subdistricts were practically submerged on Monday by
the Pesanggrahan river, which could not contain the rainwater
from West Java streams.

Many subdistrict heads in South Jakarta acknowledged that the
recent flooding was unusually severe.

Chairuddin said the IKPN housing complex was inundated by
three meters of water. Until yesterday afternoon the area was
still submerged.

He said that previous flood waters reached only two meters and
only lasted for one day.

Chairuddin said that in his subdistrict a total of six
community units were inundated and a total of 523 families had
been evacuated.

In Ulujami subdistrict a total of 261 families were also
evacuated from their homes because of the flooding. Up to
yesterday afternoon the water level was still at 80-cm, down from
110 cm on Monday.

"This is the worst flood we have experienced. We are now
building a higher embankment along the Pesanggrahan river," said
Junaidi, a staff of Ulujami subdistrict office.

Dachlan, from the Pesanggrahan subdistrict, said a total of 63
houses were submerged on Monday. "This was unusual because no
houses were ever submerged in the past," he said. No one in the
family was evacuated because they prefer to stay with their
house, he added.

The Ciliwung-Cisadane Normalization Project has recommended
that the IKPN housing complex erect a dike to protect it from the
annual floods.

It suggested that the city administration build a 10-meter-
long dike along the Pesanggrahan river, which runs through the
Bintaro, Ciputat and Cileduk, to prevent the river water from
spilling into the residential areas. (yns)