Sutiyoso tells public to brace itself for next flood

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.