After a Month, Floods and Landslides still Threaten Residents of Bogor and Lebak

A month after the floods and landslides hit Bogor, West Java and Lebak, Banten, on Jan.1, the conditions of people affected by the calamity have not yet changed.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The walls of a house that was destroyed in a flash flood on 27 Jan. 2020 still stand in Seupang, Pajagan village of Sajira, Lebak regency, Banten. The overflowing Ciberang River inundated several areas in Banten early this month, including Seupang. The kampung’s residents are reluctant to return to the area for fear of further disaster, although the area has been designated for developing into a water reservoir.

BOGOR, KOMPAS – According to data released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Wednesday (29/1), the number of people affected by the floods and landslides in Lebak reached a total of 17,860. Nine people died and 699 others were displaced. In Bogor regency, as many as 29,752 people were affected by landslides. Until now, most of the victims remain in emergency shelters or are taking refuge in relatives\' homes or rent houses.

In Harkatjaya village, Sukajaya, Bogor regency, on Tuesday (28/1), 92 people still live the temporary shelters. They are crammed into a tent measuring about 20 meters to 5 m. A similar condition was also seen in the Pasir Madang village, Kiarapandak village in Sukajaya district and Sukaraksa village in Cigudeg district.

In Ciberani village and Pasir Madang village, people whose homes were destroyed by the landslides fled to relatives\' homes. A house accommodates two to three displaced families. "Since the disaster, I lived in the house of my first child. We, 11 people, live in a house, "said Neni,48, among victims of a landslide in Ciberani.

Read more : Flood Problems Still Unresolved

Due to the landslides Neni was forced to close her shop and rely on the kindness of volunteers to get food, drink, and clothing. Now, she really needs a job to raise money to pay for her husband\'s dialysis.

Still threatening

The handling of disaster victims is quite minimal, unorganized and limited. At the same time, similar disasters still have the potential to reoccur. In Ciberani, for example, there are currently hundreds of houses on the slopes of the mountain.

Most of the mountains surrounding the village are barren. Many parts of the land could be hit by another landslide if there is a heavy rain. The mountainous area is owned by a number of companies which obtained the HBG land titles to open plantations in the area during former president Soeharto’s New Order era. There were tea, rubber and clove plantations there.

Halim ,53, who lives in Kampung Ciberani, said, a number of companies had closed their plantations since 1996. "At that time, they just left. There has never been reforestation there,” he said.

Local residents could not use the former plantation areas because they are prohibited to do so. Residents who do not have agricultural land then work odd jobs as wood collectors, illegal gold miners, or went to Jakarta and Bogor.

There has never been reforestation there.

Potential disasters also still threaten the Pasir Madang village, where the office of the Sukajaya district administration is located. West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has earlier urged the residents to move from the village which is located in the slopes. The local government has prepared a land within the area of the oil palm plantation owned by PT Perkebunan Nusantara in Sukaraksa village, Cigudeg district to move the residents.

According to the head of Pasir Madang village, Encep Sunarya, from 2003 to 2020, landslides had taken places for eight times in the area. The landslide which occurred early 2020 was the biggest one during which as many as 541 families out of 1,300 families living in the village were affected. "Residents hope that the relocation is not far from their current village. Most of the residents are farmers. If the relocation site is far, their livelihoods will be lost, "if at a time.

The total relocation is proposed because the residents, who were affected by the floods and landslides in January, 2020 were among those who had been relocated after being hit by similar calamity in 2003. Among of them are the residents of the Hegermana village, who in 2003 were moved from the slopes of Mount Jembang due to landslides.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Residents of Pasir Madang village, along with volunteers, prepare to plant trees on Tuesday (28/1/2020) in a bald spot left by a landslide in Sukajaya, Bogor. The Citarum Ciliwung River and Forest Management Agency (BPDASHL) provided the seedlings, which include durian, mahogany, African wood, macadamia and dogfruit, all of which have strong root systems that can help mitigate landslides.

Waiting for BNPB data

The Lebak regency government is still awaiting the results of the assessment of the BNPB and the police investigation on the causes of the flash floods and landslides this year and to find out who should be responsible. "It is clear that, there was extreme rains and second, the lack of vegetation so that landslides occurred," said the secretary of the Lebak regency administration, Dede Jaelani.

Based on BNPB aerial monitoring, massive land conversion has taken place in the forest area and the hillside has become a crop-planting area. As a result, the area lost its natural strength to prevent landslides. BNPB also found densely populated settlements along riverbanks and valleys.

In addition, the location of illegal gold mines was also found upstream of the Ciberang river, namely in Mount Julang in Lebakgedong district. The district is one of the six districts hit by the flash floods and landslides. The police have close and installed police lines in the illegal mining area.

Wahibudin,40, a local, said people also suspected that the Karian Dam project had partly contributed to the flooding because channels that will be used to drain the water from the dam, which is under construction, have not been built. As a consequence, water spilled from the dam into the villages.

Karian Dam is designed to accommodate 314 million cubic meters of water from the Ciujung and Ciberang rivers. The water can be used by residents in seven districts / cities in Banten and Jakarta, in addition for irrigation purposes

The Seupang village is indeed included in the project area. Residents are ready to move as long as they have received payment for land acquisition. However, they have not received the payment when the disaster occurred.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

A sheet of tarpaulin cover secures a weakeneed embankment of the East Flood Canal on Wednesday (29/1/2020) in Malaka Sari, East Jakarta. The embankment was damaged by a landslide during the massive flooding in early January.

Long-term program

Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin said the rehabilitation of disaster-affected areas in Lebak and Bogor was underway. The efforts have also been made to help the residents who lost their homes . The government will also provide compensation for affected residents. A long-term program is also being prepared to prevent further disasters.

"Long-term program to prevent landslides and floods is being prepared. It will include reforestation in the barren hills. It is now underway, "said the vice president.

This Thursday, the Vice President is scheduled to inspect the location of the evacuation in Sajira district, Lebak.