November 26, 2011
In the wake of devastating flooding in Thailand, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to make sure this country is ready for a similar event.
“We have to prepare everything we need for risk reduction measures,” the president said at a cabinet meeting on disaster anticipation on Friday. “We have to be very serious about anticipating the possibility of heavy flooding in our country.”
Yudhoyono said the risk of flooding during the current rainy season was particularly high given the unusually heavy downfall this year that has already caused severe flooding in Thailand and Cambodia.
The significant change in rain patterns, he said, was one of the topics he discussed with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen at last week’s Asean Summit in Bali.
“The Thai and Cambodian leaders told me that the rains this year were on a scale that hadn’t been seen in their countries for several decades,” he said.
“As a result, they now fear that agricultural production will drop, while the economy has been severely disrupted — you could even say paralyzed.”
He said that with the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicting potential flooding early next year, he had ordered several ministers to draft a decree that would regulate flood mitigation and management.
Yudhoyono said he expected the draft to be submitted to him next week and signed and issued immediately.
The president said the Jakarta administration in particular must be well-prepared given the city’s history of flooding.
Jakarta seems to suffer a major flood every five years, which some say is the product of a twice-decade cycle. Since the last huge flood was in 2007, there is widespread concern the first few months of 2012 could see the capital hit with a massive inundation.
In 2002, 66 percent of the city’s total area was flooded, bringing economic activity to a standstill. Losses from that incident were estimated at Rp 9.8 trillion ($1.1 billion).
“I believe the Jakarta administration has taken the necessary steps to address potential flooding, but we need to boost coordination between the city administration and the central government so that there’s nothing we’re not ready for,” Yudhoyono said.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, who attended the cabinet meeting, said his administration had made progress in addressing flooding since the 2007 deluge.
“Back then, there were 78 points across the city prone to flooding,” he said.
“Since then, we’ve carried out a series of projects to prevent flooding, including building and completing the East Flood Canal, which has brought the number of flood points down to 62.”
He said the city had set up monitoring posts at each of those points, replete with health care facilities and evacuation shelters.
Another flood mitigation program being carried out is the widening of the Ciliwung River to allow for more rainwater runoff. However, Fauzi pointed out that this was a long-term program with a sensitive social aspect — that of relocating riverbank residents — that needed to be carefully worked out.
(read in the JG)
za 26 nov 2011 - 7:36