Where will the flood funds go?

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The floodwaters have begun to recede and the rain's intensity has started to subside but flood victims still don't know what the future holds.

It is true that Governor Sutiyoso has announced Rp 505 billion (US$49 million) in emergency funds but it only raises another question: Where will the money go?

Sutiyoso promised Monday that the funds would be used to repair public facilities and victims' houses. What remains unclear is how much will be allocated to each family.

The administration hasn't officially announced the total losses caused by the biggest flood ever to hit the capital.

City agencies raced Tuesday to request additional budgets in the name of "restoration projects".

The City Public Works Agency said it would need at least Rp 153 billion to repair roads.

"We'll tripled our annual budget of Rp 51 billion to maintain and repair road damaged by floodwaters," agency head IGKG Suena said.

He claimed damage had been caused to 70 percent of the city's streets, including the main thoroughfares of Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. MH. Thamrin. Big holes were also spotted on Jl. Ahmad Yani in East Jakarta, Jl. Kebon Sirih, Jl. Budi Kemuliaan, Jl. Pejompongan in Central Jakarta and Jl. Kyai Tapa in West Jakarta.

The agency also needed to repair Jl. TB Simatupang, part of which was damaged by a landslide.

City Sanitation Agency deputy chief Rama Boedi said it would have to increase its budget by 10 to 20 percent because its 700 garbage trucks were damaged. They did not operate for several days during the flooding.

The budget hike was also needed to cover the operational costs of an additional 4,000 cubic meters of rubbish generated by the floods each day. The average daily rubbish output equals 25,000 cubic meters.

But Rama declined to mention how much extra money he would need.

The City Education Agency announced earlier it would use some of its Rp 500 billion 2002 City Budget allocation to repair hundreds of school buildings damaged during the flood.

The administration had allocated 19 percent of its Rp 9.3 trillion budget for education programs, including to repair school buildings.

Despite the great material losses, the floods in Greater Jakarta also claimed 33 lives while five others were still missing. The government has declined to designate the calamity a national disaster.

Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) Jakarta chapter chairman Ahmad Safrudin said the Jakarta Flood Advocacy Team, comprising dozens of NGOs, had drafted a class-action lawsuit against the administration for its lack of early warning to citizens and the poor emergency response.

The team has received hundreds of complaints but will reduce that to 30 for the purposes of its lawsuit.

The class action will demand compensation that is estimated from the lack of public services, for example the lack of clean water. The draft is expected to be completed by Friday.

Walhi Jakarta itself will also file legal action against the administration and housing development companies, specially those which built Pantai Indah Kapuk housing estate in North Jakarta and several housing complexes in Cibubur, East Jakarta.

As Jakarta slowly returned to normal, despite the rain in the morning and afternoon, flooding was still seen in some parts of the city, even though it had receded significantly.

Floodwater still inundated many buildings, including the Regent Hotel in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Water levels at the city's six floodgates had receded. As of Tuesday morning, the highest water level was at the Manggarai water gate, which was only 30 cm lower than its limit of 800 cm.

Areas that remained flooded were Petamburan, Karet Tengsin and Bendungan Hilir in Central Jakarta; Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, Jl. Yos Sudarso, Kelapa Gading, Plumpang, Sunter Jaya, Penjaringan and Pejagalan in North Jakarta; Semanan, Tegal Alur, Kapuk, Rawa Buaya, Duri Kosambi, Kali Angke and Tanjung Duren Utara in West Jakarta; Bintaro, Manggarai and Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta; and Jatinegara, Pulogadung and Duren Sawit in East Jakarta.

Many schools and offices were yet to open, including the office for vehicle registration and drivers license applications on Jl. Daan Mogot, West Jakarta.

City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said the police would tolerate all late registrations and applications until the office could serve the public.

The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency predicted rain would keep on falling Wednesday with temperatures between 23 and 31 degrees Celsius while weatherunderground.com issued similar forecasts with a temperature range between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius.