Districts in North Jakarta -- such as Tanjung Priok, Koja and Kelapa Gading -- are likely to be hit by flooding this month, according to the city meteorology and geophysics agency's (BMG) official website, bmg.go.id.

The head of climatology and air quality analysis at BMG, Soetamto, said sporadic rain would gradually increase and the falls would peak in late January to early February.

"We will start analyzing the flood potential a week before late January. Currently, heavy rain clouds can be seen out to sea north of Jakarta. They will move south and hit the city in the following weeks," Soetamto told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"Based on our analysis so far, there is potential for flooding. However, we cannot predict how big the rains will be because there are so many factors that still need to be calculated."

Soetamto said BMG would publish its official prediction on the flood potential and size as soon as they finished the analysis.

The city administration are coordinating with BMG in relation to the flooding potential, said the head of the relocation and reconstruction unit at the Jakarta Public Order Agency, Hulman Sitorus.

"We will use a vast amount of space on higher grounds, such as Halim Perdanakusumah airport, National Monument and Senayan Stadium, for emergency refugee camps if a major flood takes place," he told the Post.

The agency will deploy all of its 7,000 personnel to the 78 flood-prone areas throughout the city.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, several parts of Jakarta experienced incessant rain.

A duty officer of the flood gate Manggarai in South Jakarta reported Wednesday that the water level was still at a safe height of 670 centimeters.

"It is still below the normal level of 750 cm," said Dian, the duty officer, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Dian said he received a report from Depok flood gate that as of Wednesday morning, the water had reached 85 cm, well below the normal rate of 200 cm.

Katulampa flood gate in Bogor reached 30 cm, below the normal rate of 80 cm. (hdt)

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