Comprehensively Handling Jakarta

KOMPAS/HARRY SUSILO

Indonesian Navy Marines use a rubber dinghy to evacuate a sick elderly man from his flooded home in the Jatiwaringin Antilop housing complex of Pondok Gede, Bekasi, West Java, Wednesday (1/1/2020). Floodwaters of 1 to 2 meters high inundated the area, one of several in Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta) that were hit by floods after heavy rains that fell as the calendar year changed from 2019 to 2020.

Concerns have colored the turn of the year. High rainfall caused flooding in many places, claiming lives and material losses.

Rains with moderate to high intensity hit Greater Jakarta on Tuesday (31/12/2019) afternoon until Wednesday (1/1/2020). Flooding occurred in many areas, stopped railway services in a number of sections because the tracks were flooded, inundated a number of toll road sections and cut off road access in several places.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Wednesday (1/1/2020) morning, forecast that moderate to high intensity rain would continue over the next three days. Not only in Greater Jakarta but in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Papua, it is predicted that heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds and lightning, will take place.

The BMKG, as the weather information authority, always releases such information and if necessary issues alerts. However, not all community members know where to access this information.

Hydrological disasters can be predicted because they are the result of the arrival of the rainy season. Therefore, regional governments, from the provincial level to the regency and city level, have been watchful of the possible impacts of floods and landslides.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Floodwaters fill both lanes of Jl. DI Pandjaitan in Cawang, East Jakarta, Wednesday (1/1/2020). Heavy rains that fell from New Year\'s Eve to the morning of New Year’s Day caused flooding in Jakarta and surrounding areas, inundating residential areas and disrupting holiday activities as residents were forced to evacuate.

Local governments are required to create an early warning system for the community and prepare steps to help victims if a disaster cannot be avoided.

Dealing with flooding in and around Jakarta cannot be resolved in the usual and patchy manner. Floods and puddles have been a problem of Jakarta since at least the 17th century. Heavy flooding is also caused by environmental damage and the conversion of catchment areas into residential and business areas.

Jakarta flood management must be linked to Jakarta\'s spatial and land use planning and upstream areas. There was a plan to reduce the impact of flooding in Jakarta by forming lakes in the upstream area as water catchment, arranging land use planning in the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur area and building a giant sea wall. Some of the plans are working, but their follow-up works have yet to be realized.

Long-term plans are needed.

The central government needs to take over the handling of flooding in Jakarta because it involves inter-government agencies in the central and regional governments. Long-term plans are needed.

The relocation of the capital to East Kalimantan aims to , among other things, reduce the burden on Greater Jakarta. The move should be followed by efforts to continue to take care of Jakarta, including its flooding issues. Flooding is not only detrimental to Jakartans but also reduces overall productivity because Jakarta is the center of national economic activity.