Sutiyoso tells public to brace itself for next flood

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City Governor Sutiyoso called on Jakartans to be prepared for the next floods as the city administration's efforts to prevent flooding would not significantly reduce inundation during the upcoming rainy season in the city.

Sutiyoso's statement was made during a call for flood readiness at National Monument (Monas) park, Central Jakarta, on Saturday.

Those taking part in the call included representatives from the city administration, the city's search-and-rescue body, Jakarta firefighters, Jakarta Military Headquarters and the city police.

"This call for flood readiness is part of efforts to enhance interagency coordination in anticipation of flooding and how to help the refugees," said Sutiyoso.

As stated repeatedly by head of the City Public Works Agency IGKG Suena, flood prevention projects this year could only alleviate flooding in five of the 78 areas liable to it.

This year, the administration spent over Rp 300 million on financing 13 flood prevention projects in the city. Suena stressed that to deal with annual flooding comprehensively, it would need around Rp 17 trillion, including for the construction of the Eastern Flood Canal.

Last year, floods killed over 30 people and affected over 300,000 people living in 168 subdistricts within 42 districts.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said this year downpours would not be as great as last year's, but would still be higher than normal. It is predicted that flooding will hit the city from the end of December to mid-January.

Sutiyoso repeatedly blamed nature for the failure in anticipating the floods last year, saying that the majority of Jakarta was below sea level.

However, environmentalists and urban planners said that the floods had been made worse by the widespread loss of open areas in the city to commercial development, particularly due to the city administration's inconsistency in implementing land use policy.

Sutiyoso said that after the call, relevant government agencies and offices in the city would organize drills to prepare for the next floods, involving residents in their respective areas.

According to Sutiyoso, these drills would give information to the public about what they should do when hit by flooding.

Sutiyoso also called on people living along riverbanks not to dump solid waste into the rivers as that would worsen the flooding.

Meanwhile, urban observer Marco Kusumawijaya said two things should be done by the city administration in anticipating and resolving flooding in the city.

First, the administration should create a reliable system that could be used to anticipate the annual floods as they would still occur in the next five years to 10 years. But he stressed that the system should involve the public.

"It was clear in the last floods that the public played a significant role in helping victims of the natural disaster. Therefore, they should be empowered," Marco said.

Second, apart from establishing a system to help flood victims, the city administration should also have a concrete, clear and measurable long-term program to resolve flooding problems in the city.

"With such a program, people will know what is being carried out by the city administration, stage by stage. The people will know the areas that will not be affected by flooding in subsequent years. I have not seen any such plan," he said.