Dozens of houses flooded as dam collapses

The Jakarta Post, Sat, June 4 2016


The collapse of a dam near Pantai Mutiara, Pluit, Penjaringan, in North Jakarta, flooded dozens of houses in a plush residential area.

The incident started at 8:30 a.m. on Friday.

“The dam collapse occurred in high waves because of erosion under the bridge and dam,” said the head of Jakarta City Water Management, Teguh Hendarwan, as reported by kompas.com.

About a 50-meter length of the dam collapsed, said Teguh, who inspected the location on Friday night.

Because of the dam collapse, as many as 124 houses near Pantai Mutiara were inundated by water on Friday. “Four blocks of houses were affected,” said Pluit subdistrict head Purnama early Saturday, adding that there were no reports of casualties.

Personnel from the military, police, rescue teams, fire departments and volunteers worked to build a temporary dam to prevent sea water from flowing farther into the area.

When the incident occurred, the water level reached up to 200 centimeters, but by 1:10 a.m. the water level had receded to only some 50 centimeters, kompas.com reported.

Meanwhile, the construction of the temporary dam was finished at about 3 a.m. on Saturday.

Four mobile water pumps had been operated since 5 a.m. to help pump water from the residential area. “Last night, we could not operate the pump because the water level was still quite high,” said a worker from Jakarta City Water Management. The water level reached only 30 centimeters by about 8 a.m.


Part of Cikopo-Palimanan toll road collapses..,

Jakarta | Fri, May 27 2016

A Cikopo-Palimanan, locally known as "Cipali", toll road section has collapsed at KM 103, 400 kilometers along the Jakarta to Cirebon route, forcing traffic authorities to only allow one lane for vehicles to pass.

"The collapsed section was 10 meters in length and 1 m deep,” said West Java traffic police patrol chief Comr. H. Hanafi as quoted by tempo.co.

Following the incident, traffic police could only allow motorists the use of one lane of the two-lane toll road.

A field traffic police officer, First Insp. Hery Prakata said police had placed traffic signs before the collapsed part as a precaution to road users to prevent accidents.

"Heavy rain often falls along the Cipali toll road. Motorists should keep watch if the roads are slippery,” Hery was quoted by tempo.co as saying.

The road section collapsed on Wednesday evening after heavy downpour.

Toll road management PT Lintas Marga Sedaya has been repairing the section by hardening the road's shoulder around the damaged part to prevent another collapse.

The Cipali toll road is a main route for homebound Idul Fitri travelers.

And a bit I overlooked from a few weeks ago,

Squatters evicted from makeshift houses under Pluit toll road..,

Jakarta | Mon, March 21 2016

The city administration evicted dozens of families living in makeshift houses under the Pluit toll road in North Jakarta on Tuesday, one day after the administration demolished buildings in the Kalijodo red-light district in West and North Jakarta.

"We will finish all buildings under the Pluit toll road today," Jakarta governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama told journalists on Tuesday.

The administration had sent warning letters to the squatters so that they could make preparations, the governor said, adding that many of the squatters were newcomers that had only arrived in the area a month ago.

"Why should we be polite with those newcomers?” Ahok said.

The city administration had prepared 650 low-cost apartments for people who had Jakarta identity cards, he added.

Any buildings occupying green spaces in the capital city faced demolition by the city administration after the squatters received three warning letters, Ahok added.



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