Welcome to Jakarta, the underwater metropolis

Welcome to Jakarta, the underwater metropolis

"What a beautiful sight!" a friend exclaimed upon seeing the
skyline from the 27th floor of a five-star hotel in Central
Jakarta. It was raining heavily on that Tuesday night.

He went on, "There are still many vacant plots. We could have
invested our money in building more shopping malls, offices or
apartments."

Call it an overreaction, but I had never expected that kind of
comment from my friend, someone I considered to be highly
intellectual and broad-minded.

"Hey, that's a bad idea," I replied curtly. "You know, those
vacant plots serve as water catchment areas. Without them,
Jakarta would sink," I added, a bit sorry for having shouted at
him.

Other friends with us commented that he was only looking from
the business point of view that it would be good to have more
investment projects in the capital.

"But don't do that at the expense of the environment and the
public," I insisted.

The next morning, another friend said her boyfriend in Tebet,
South Jakarta, decided to skip work because the road was blocked
by local residents after floodwaters swept through the area.

"My boyfriend got an SMS from a friend that the road was
flooded, so was the office. So, he turned around and went home,"
she said.

However, she forgot to tell me that traffic in the capital was
severely affected from the heavy rains and floods.

Just in front of my housing complex, I saw public minibuses
going the wrong way down a one-way road to avoid the flooded
sections. The situation was worsened by the many taxi drivers who
had parked their vehicles along the road because their depot was
flooded.

"And it's not even the peak of the rainy season yet," I
grumbled.

I remember three years ago, when the great flood paralyzed the
capital for nearly a week. I had to stay overnight at the office
for three days because the toll road connecting Jakarta and
Tangerang -- where I used to live -- was underwater and
impossible for private cars to pass.

Many Jakartans got stuck there, and the stretch of toll road
to Cawang turned into a huge parking lot. I counted myself lucky
that I was able to return to my office and sleep underneath my
desk.

Unfortunately, this meant I had to leave my three-year-old boy
at home with my maids. I couldn't help the tears that rose in my
eyes when I heard him crying over the phone, because my husband
and I hadn't come home for more than 24 hours.

When the media reported that the city administration lacked
adequate measures to anticipate this year's flood season --
including efforts to evacuate flood victims, setting up public
kitchens and temporary shelters and most importantly, in
complying with the Jakarta Master Spatial Plan by conserving
water catchment areas and greenbelts -- I thought I'd better come
up with my own emergency measure: I'd better bring a change of
clothes.

It's just a precaution, in case I have to overnight at the
office again.

A colleague joked that the office should have provided several
rubber rafts and life vests, just in case we had to go whitewater
rafting to business meetings.

As Governor Sutiyoso warned recently, a few sluices might be
opened this year to reduce flooding in vulnerable areas, which
would cause the water to flow into many elite districts --
including the State Palace.

So if there are any state guests coming to Jakarta, they might
get a very different sort of welcome than they are used to: they
may be picked up by rubber rafts to sail down the main Sudirman
and Thamrin "rivers" before alighting at the palace "pier" for
their meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

It could even be that serious discussions on the country's
prospects and development would be held aboard the "presidential
raft" -- provided there is one.

Or maybe our top architects could start to consider design
options for transforming Jakarta into an underwater city, just
like those in sci-fi flicks.

Hey, why not? We're halfway there already -- and besides, it
would open new opportunities for investment, wouldn't it? -- Budirianti