'The poor need better housing'

'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