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Jakarta Post

Jakarta prepared for flooding, says Jokowi

Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said the capital city was ready to face the threat of flooding as it entered the rainy season

Andreas D. Arditya and Novia D. Rulistia (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, November 7, 2012 Published on Nov. 7, 2012 Published on 2012-11-07T10:12:09+07:00

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J

akarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said the capital city was ready to face the threat of flooding as it entered the rainy season.

The governor said that as all related institutions understood their duties and authority, he expected his subordinates to face no difficulties in managing the incoming floods.

“I don’t want to hear any complaints from the people. We cannot be late in responding should floods hit anywhere in the city,” Jokowi said during a personnel roll call at the National Monument square in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.

Arfan Arkili, the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) chief, also said that the city had prepared a total of 26,098 officers from numerous agencies to handle flooding problems. “The governor has also told us to focus on the quick distribution of aid and shorter response times of health officers,” Arfan told reporters at City Hall.

Arfan also said the administration had undertaken a number of preventive measures ahead of the rainy season, including dredging a number of minor rivers and 144 water channels, heightening coastal dikes and preparing water pumps in areas vulnerable to flooding.

Separately, the head of Petogogan subdistrict in South Jakarta, Kuswara, said that three of six neighborhood units were often inundated during the rainy season.

“When heavy rain takes place for hours, the water can reach between 50-centimeters and 1-meter high,” he said.

According to the Jakarta Public Works Agency, Petogogan is one of the flooding-prone areas in Jakarta as many residents live near to Krukut River.

To anticipate the problem, he had set up four posts in areas often inundated, complete with emergency kitchens, food and health officers on site.

He added they had also cooperated with the Jakarta Health Agency, Jakarta Public Works Agency, Social Agency and Fire Agency to anticipate flooding in the area.

“In addition, we always make contact with officials at the Krukut River monitoring post. If the water increases after long and heavy rains, they will usually contact us and we will immediately inform people around the neighborhood to be prepared,” he said.

Kuswara also said that one neighborhood unit also had its own water gauge and several trained volunteers who were ready to work when a disaster occurred.

“But let’s just hope there will be no big flood this year,” he said.

Jakarta Health Agency chief Dien Emmawati said during his visit to North Jakarta Health Subagency on Tuesday they had provided as much water and food as possible, and had ordered officials to optimize water purifying units at the post.

“The post is ready to receive around 300 people who are affected by floods, with water purifying units with a total capacity of 2,000 liters,” she said as quoted by kompas.com.

Tuwamin Mulyono, head of the meteorology division at the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said the peak of the rainy season in Jakarta would be in January. “During the peak, rain can fall at a rate of more than 100 millimeters per day, with a small chance of reaching more than 200 millimeters per day,” Tuwamin said.

BMKG reports said that most parts of the capital had already experienced the effects of the rainy season. The northern part of the city is forecast to see heavy rain on regular basis in December.

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