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New approach needed to prevent floods
The city administration needs to adopt a new approach to prevent flooding in the capital, a seminar heard Monday
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The city administration needs to adopt a new approach to prevent flooding in the capital, a seminar heard Monday.
Flood expert Jan T.L. Yap from the Collaborative Knowledge Network Indonesia (CKNet-INA) said the administration ought to establish a more integrated system of flood prevention.
“Currently, the basic challenge [to the city’s flood prevention program] is the limited, if any, coordination between the different institutions within the administration,” he said.
“Moreover, there is no proper structure for the operation and maintenance of the city’s river and drainage system.”
Flood expert Mezak Rataq from the Bandung Institute of Technology agreed, saying the administration must establish an integrated system as it could identify the pattern of conditions causing the floods.
“The recent floods in Jakarta were mostly caused by changes in its socioeconomic system,” Mezaq said.
“Urbanization, poverty, changes in land use and the concentration of business activities in floodplain areas are among the familiar causes that anyone can identify.”
Mezaq said the stiff competition in the local political sphere had contributed to the city’s reluctance to establish a comprehensive flood mitigation plan for the long term.
“Most politicians are more interested in discussing short-term mitigation,” he said.
The discussion, jointly organized by CKNet and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), invited local and international experts, to discuss the possibility of implementing an integrated flood management program in Indonesia.
Joachim Saalmuller from WMO said flooding would continue to occur if the administration failed to include community participation in the its flood prevention program.
“A shortcoming of past flood management practices is that the administration tended to be more reactive to flood hazards,” he said.
Joachim urged the administration to actively persuade its people to participate in its flood prevention program.
“Many people in big cities still believe that living in a flood-free area is possible. But, they have to realize that there is no such thing in recent days,” he said.
Today, Jakarta is a megacity with a population of nearly 10 million within the city’s boundaries and more than four million in neighboring areas. Yet, it still relies on the same canal system to avert flooding.
With floods occurring several times over the past weeks, the city administration pledged to intensify land procurement in February to make way for the East Flood Canal.
The project, worth Rp 4.9 trillion, will control six major rivers in the city, including Cipinang, Sunter, Buaran, Jatikramat, Cakung and Blencong.
“The administration also has to optimize the function of the existing flood prevention infrastructures,” Jan said. (hwa)
