Our team was not the first group to have conducted field surveys and interviews there. Various agencies had been there before.

During our interviews, the locals presented struck me with interesting answers.

When we arrived, an old man looking like a retired civil servant was spending time with his songbird.

"Excuse me, how long have you been living here?" I asked.

"About eight years," he said.

"Aren't you disturbed by the floods?" I asked

"No. Not at all," he answered briefly.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because we were already used to the flooding," he said.

The old man told us that his son, a colonel in the Army, had disagreed with him about staying put in the flood-prone area, and had asked him to leave. The colonel had even purchased a new house for his father, which he turned down, insisting on staying where he felt at home.

Years later I visited the same kampung as a retiree. Out of curiosity, I looked for the old man to seek further clarification about why local residents felt at home here despite the persistent flooding. Neighbors said the old man had passed away at the age of 80.

I then took a look down a narrow alley to see what the area was like. My impression was that the neighborhood was in a reasonably good condition, although the sewer was dirty, presumably because of poor maintenance.

I went to the busy area closest to the river bank. Small shops were set up here and there, children were playing, and mothers gossiped in front of their overcrowded mini houses.

I stumbled upon a group of four men chatting, and took the opportunity to ask for their views on the recurrent flooding.

They claimed that after living in the neighborhood for more than 20 years that flooding was no longer a threat.

"We always communicate with each other, and listen to radio information on water levels at the Katulampa sluice gate in upper Bogor," one of the men said.

"If the water level exceeds 100 centimeters, we caution residents living near the river banks about the possibility of overflow," he continued.

"It takes around three hours for water to get flow from Katulampa to the Depok sluice gate *in West Java* is around three hours, and it takes roughly eight hours for it to reach Manggarai *in South Jakarta*," another man said, adding that residents could calculate the time needed to inform their neighbors and prepare for a potential evacuation.

Nearby complexes including the Santa Maria Catholic school, Hermina hospital and the subdistrict administrative office are among regular temporary shelters.

A man called Mustofa accompanied me to inspect the 20-meter-wide river, which was murky and flowed at a beleaguered pace.

A boy played with his pigeons by the river side, while a woman dried her laundry next to him. An uneven row of packed houses stood on stilts across the river banks.

Mustofa said many of the children thought of floods as a new opportunity to play.

"When the floods come many children rush to the river for swimming competitions," Mustofa said.

"They race against the current from here until there," he said, pointing first at the river bend and then to another point around 50 meters away.

According to Mustofa, many residents were reluctant to move away from the area because they earned their living at the nearby Jatinegara traditional market, only a 10-minute walk away.

"They sell vegetables, fruit and clothing there," Mustofa said.

"Some also work as porters or night watchmen," he added.

After the visit, I went home pleased that most of my questions had been answered.

- Samiono Soetrasno

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