Residents Tired of Recurring Floods

Name: Residents Tired of Recurring Floods
Uploaded: 2020-02-26T05:05:44Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: At least eight areas in Jakarta and neighboring regions have been hit by flooding since New Year’s Day 2020 due to extreme rainfall and poor drainage.

At least eight areas in Jakarta and neighboring regions have been hit by flooding since New Year’s Day 2020 due to extreme rainfall and poor drainage.

KOMPAS TEAM

· 5 minutes read

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Jakarta and the surrounding regions have been hit by flooding nearly every week over the past two months. An investigation by Kompas R&D found that floodwaters in these areas have reached over 50 centimeters to date, disrupting the public transit system and other public facilities and forcing thousands to flee their homes.

“Moderate to heavy rainfall occurred evenly from the south to the north in Greater Jakarta, with the highest [rainfall] intensity recorded in Kemayoran on 25 February at 7 a.m. of 278 millimeters [per day],” said Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) head Dwikorita Karnawati on Tuesday in Jakarta.

Presidential Secretariat head Heru Budi Hartono said that several locations in the Presidential Palace compound and the hallway to Wisma Negara in the palace had been flooded. The flooding began at 4 a.m. and was resolved at 6 a.m. using several pumps.

Cipto Mangunkusumo National Central General Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta was also affected by the flood. “Services are still running in the Emergency Room and the polyclinics. Surgical procedures have been moved from our operating rooms to the ER and Kencana [hospital]. We’ve been having difficulties with the MRI scanners. We moved a few to Kencana and others to other hospitals,” said RSCM president director Lies Dina Liastuti.

The radiotherapy department’s tomotherapy service was halted after the equipment was flooded. Cipto Mangunkusumo has the only tomotherapy machine in Indonesia.

The recurring floods have flared up emotions. On Tuesday, a group of residents stormed AEON Mall at Jakarta Garden City in East Cakung, East Jakarta. Several of the mall’s windows were damaged in the incident. The local residents’ frustration over the mall’s drainage system is thought to be the motivation for the violence.

“The residents have protested several times, most recently two days ago. There are no water reservoirs here so all the water flows to the rear [into a residential area]. This might be the culmination [of local frustrations], as the residents have been protesting since 2019,” said East Cakung resident Kuswanto, 25.

The Jakarta Police recorded 185 flood areas in Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi. Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) spokesperson M. Insaf said that 294 community units (RW), or 10.74 percent of all RWs in the capital, were flooded. The disaster had displaced 973 families, or 3,565 individuals, who had fled their homes to temporary shelters in 40 locations.

The Bekasi administration reported that 11 districts in the municipality were flooded, and that 2,575 families had been forced to flee their homes while 391 schools had to be closed. Eleven districts and thousands of people in Tangerang have also been affected by the flooding.

Jakarta Police data recorded at least two fatalities from electrocution in Medan Satria, Bekasi. The victims were identified as Faizin, 52, and Pisin, 45. Agus Wijayanto, 14, was killed when he was swept away by the Mampang River in South Jakarta, while Sulton, 14, was swept away by river in Pinangsia, West Jakarta.

The floods disrupted the Commuter Line, long-distance rail and Transjakarta BRT services in Greater Jakarta from morning to noon on Tuesday.

Poor drainage

Water resources special staffer Firdaus Ali of the Public Works and Housing Ministry said that poor building drainage systems were among the causes of flooding, particularly in Jakarta. “There is much sediment and other materials in the drains,” he said.

This is in line with the findings in several culverts. Looking into the open manholes along Jl. Gunung Sahari show that the drains are clogged with sediment and garbage. A similar condition was discovered on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan.

“If the floodwater reaches more than 30 centimeters high and does not recede in two hours, then something is wrong with the drainage. The city administration should attend to this and revitalize [the system],” said Elkana Catur H. from the Jakarta Urban Planners Association (IAP).

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan suggested that the public be actively involved in ensuring that rainwater did not flow into streets by building infiltration wells. Anies also said that all city officials had been placed on alert to help residents with the floods.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said that he had called on state-owned construction companies to purchase mobile pumps for use during the floods.

Basuki said that 8,000 square meters of land must be cleared to install a canal network from the Ciliwung River to the East Flood Canal. Half of the land belongs to the city administration while the other half belongs to local residents.

National industries hit

The recurring floods have hit businesses and industries hard.

“If the flood does not recede, we expect shipments of plastics from Cilegon to factories in Central Java and East Java to experience delays of two to three days,” said Indonesian Olefin, Aromatics and Plastics Industry Association secretary-general Fajar Budiyono.

Special staffer to the State-Owned Enterprises Minister Arya Sinulingga said that the ministry had requested state electricity company PT PLN to monitor the impact of the floods on the utility service and protect the public from electricity hazards. At least 1,612 power substations had been shut down through midday Tuesday, affecting areas in Jakarta, West Java and Banten.

(HAR/VAN/IGA/JOG/HLN/DNE/MTK/GIO/DAN/FAI/FRD/JUD/SHR/IKI/LAS/TAN/AIK/MZW/DIV)

Editor:

Syahnan Rangkuti

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