Flood Problems Still Unresolved
A number of government plans to reduce flooding in Greater Jakarta have not been completed. Some of the projects were halted. When floods occur again, new plans emerge.
A number of government plans to reduce flooding in Greater Jakarta have not been completed. Some of the projects were halted. When floods occur again, new plans emerge.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS —The central government has prepared a number of efforts to prevent flooding in Greater Jakarta. These efforts include building reservoirs in the upstream area, namely the Ciawi Dam and Sukamahi Dam in Bogor regency.
In addition, the government has also initiated a project to normalize the Ciliwung River and to build sodetan (canals) in the downstream areas.
"The canals on the Ciliwung River will significantly reduce the volume of water. The burden on the Ciliwung River can be reduced," said Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono in Jakarta on Friday after a special limited meeting at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta to discuss natural disasters. The meeting was chaired by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Of the planned construction of the 1.2-kilometer canal, only 600 meters have been built. The construction of the canal cannot be continued because of a land acquisition problem.
Basuki said that if the land acquisition can be completed by the Jakarta provincial administration, the central government would need six months to complete the construction of the canal.
Based on Kompas\' data, after floods hit Greater Jakarta in 2007, a number of policies emerged, both in the form of regulations and infrastructure development plans. Law No. 26/2007 concerning spatial planning was also issued. It, among other things, regulates the provision of green space covering 30 percent of the area.
Unfortunately, the regulation cannot be fully enforced. In the same year, there were plans to build a minimum of 200 reservoirs between Bogor and Jakarta, the 200-hectare Ciawi Reservoir in Bogor, river normalization and the construction of the eastern canal. From a number of plans, it turns out that only the eastern canal was completed in 2010.
Preparedness
In a limited meeting, President Jokowi asked governors, regents and mayors to increase preparedness. Based on the forecast of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the peak of the rainy season would occur in February. Heavy to extreme rains are predicted to occur in the next two days.
The death toll caused by the floods following New Year’s Eve continued to increase both directly and indirectly. The latest data show six people were killed in East Jakarta on Thursday. One family of four died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a portable power generator, while two other people died in a fire that was allegedly caused by a candle flame.
During the three days of flooding in Greater Jakarta (Jan. 1 to 3), the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded that a total of 43 people were killed. As a comparison, during the floods that hit Greater Jakarta for 10 days from 31 January to 9 February, 2007, the death toll as recorded by the National Disaster Management Coordination Board (Bakornas) and the Social Affairs Ministry was 79, with one missing and hundreds of thousands displaced.
As of Friday afternoon, state electricity company PLN has resumed the operation of 87 percent of 5,744 distribution substations that were shut down because of flooding. The remaining 743 substations are still turned off waiting for their areas to be cleared of floodwaters.
Meanwhile, thousands of residents affected by landslides in Bogor regency, West Java, on Friday (3/1), lacked food, drink and medicine.
In Harkatjaya village, Sukajaya district, which was affected by landslides, public kitchens that were opened by youth clubs could not function optimally because of limited personnel and gas.
On Friday morning, flash floods hit residential areas in the Sangihe Islands regency, North Sulawesi. Four people were killed, eight were injured and dozens of homes were damaged. More than 100 families were displaced, while hundreds of other residents were isolated because the bridge was damaged.
Environmental improvement
The head of BNPB, Doni Monardo, said the heavy rainfall was not the main cause of floods and landslides, which were instead more caused by damage to vegetation cover from land conversion, settlements and mines.
"Technology, such as weather modification, is indeed very helpful in reducing rainfall. However, the occurrence of floods that are happening now should be a warning to the community so that in conducting business activities, the environmental balance should be considered," said Doni.
Meanwhile the head of the BMKG, Dwikorita Karnawati, said the high rainfall cycle was now shortening. "Usually the extreme rainfall occurs in a 10-year period. Now it can happen in less than five years. There is an indication that the environmental changes have caused climate change," he said.
On Friday, weather modification technology began to be used as an effort to mitigate floods and landslides in Greater Jakarta. The head of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, Hammam Riza, said that this technology was expected to reduce rainfall in the Greater Jakarta area. (NTA/SYA/OKA/HLN/JOG/IDO/VAN/DIV/NIA/BOW/SHR/DAN/TAN/AIK/XTI )