'The poor need better housing'

As water levels at a number of sluice gates in Greater Jakarta returned to normal and evacuees vacated their temporary shelters to return home, the Jakarta administration has downgraded the alert level. However, residents are still on the watch for further flooding as more heavy rain is forecast for later this week. The Jakarta Post asked some people for their opinions on what needed to be done to prevent flooding in the capital.

Mawardi, 40, drives a public minivan on the Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, to Meruya, West Jakarta, route. He lives in Grogol Utara, West Jakarta:

I think that people who live in flood-prone areas must be prepared for the annual floods as, according to the media, the administration has yet to come up with a way to resolve the problem in the near future.

I would also hope that the people who live along the riverbanks will be willing to move to other areas as they actually contribute to the flooding problem in the city.

They are squatting on state lands that were originally allocated for green spaces. They also dump their garbage into the rivers. As a Betawi (native Jakartan), I am very concerned about the current chaotic situation in Jakarta.

Syaeful, 33, is a taxi driver. He lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta:

I've been staying at a relative's place in Kebayoran Baru for one week now because I'm afraid of the floods. My neighborhood is in one of the city's flood-prone areas, you know.

Even if my rented house doesn't actually get flooded, the access road always ends up under water.

It's not that I'm complaining -- because my rented house is the best I can afford on my earnings -- but the city administration should pay more attention to housing and provide us with better places to live -- at affordable prices, of course.

It's people like us, the poor, who have to bear all the consequences resulting from the uncontrolled development of the city, such as poor housing, disease, flooding, fires, landslides and evictions.

It's all happened so often in the past that it's time for the administration to do something about it.

-- The Jakarta Post