Jakarta Globe, January 13 2014.
Misery returned to many on Monday as the first city-wide flood of the rainy season inundated homes and blocked transport thoroughfares, evoking memories of the disastrous floods in January last year which killed scores and paralyzed the capital.
“As many as 7,367 houses or 24,269 people have been flooded,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Monday.
The Jakarta Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) report said more than 5,000 people had been evacuated from floods right across the capital basin, from Tangerang to the west to Bekasi in the east.
“We have declared a flood alert this afternoon,” Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said on Monday, emphasizing that the “alert” status was one level below “emergency.” Evacuation measures would be given greater priority under the new alert status.
Within the city limits, East Jakarta, in particular, was badly affected — water levels of 150 centimeters were reported in Jatinegara on Monday morning, while another usual suspect — Kampung Melayu — was also under more than meter of water. Kampung Rambutan recorded a 60-centimeter level on Monday morning.
“A special meeting with the governor [Joko Widodo] has been scheduled this morning to decide whether an emergency response status needs to be issued,” Bambang said.
Water levels at the Depok and Katulampa (near Bogor) water gates decreased slightly on Monday compared with a day earlier.
School closures
The Jakarta education agency instructed all affected schools to close for the day.
“If it is the case that students must study at home, then teachers will give assignments, monitor them and collect their work once the situations after the flooding has improved.” said Taufik Yudi Mulyanto, head of Jakarta’s education agency.
Affected schools included SMA 8 Bukit Duri, SMA 60 Jalan Bangka, SMP 124 Jalan Bangka and SMA 35 Jalan Mutiara, Karet Tengsin.
As many parents were unable to take their children to school, commuters expressed frustration that journeys to work — already arduous thanks to Jakarta’s inadequate road network — had become impossible.
“Today I had to travel twice as long as the usual 90-minute ride to the office,” said Sanovia Hendrayani, who travels around 16 kilometers to reach Kedoya, West Jakarta, from Pancoran, in the city’s south.
“Most roads were blocked because of the floods, so the bus had to pass through other routes and I had to wait forever for a bus to come,” she said.
Worrying outlook
BMKG deputy for weather forecasting Soepriyo said the capital should expect more rain over the next 24 hours.
“Moderate to light rainfall will take place until tomorrow,” said Soepriyo.
The forecast for outlying areas Bekasi, Bogor, Depok and Tangerang was, however, of greater concern. The three-day outlook for the Jabodetabek area indicates heavy rainfall, which will likely put more pressure on flood defenses — increasing the likelihood of levee failures and burst banks in Central Jakarta.
“Heavy rainfall will shower Jabodetabek from January 13 to 15,” Soepriyo said.
Joko asked Jakarta residents to exercise patience as his administration worked over the longer term to dredge waterways and install other flood-defense measures.
The governor indicated that his administration, barely a year-and-half old, could not be expected to have demonstrated an immediate impact on flooding in a city that is gradually sinking, and where almost unfettered construction and significant population growth have joined forces with longstanding neglect of disaster preparedness.
“The handling of floods is being done not only by the Jakarta provincial government, it is also the responsibility of the central government,” he said, adding that Jakartans must undergo a collective change of attitude with regard to littering and waste disposal, which impacts adversely on drainage.
“The role of the people must be developed or it will all be in vain,” the governor said. “…But to overcome this flood, time is needed, because the dredging of reservoirs has just started.
Do not just ask this to be done in a month or a year, this takes time.”
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ma 13 jan 2014 - 20:27
