Muhammad Ibnu, a 33-year-old attendant at the Manggarai sluice gate in South Jakarta, chatted with his colleagues while glancing occasionally out the window of his office to check the level of the river at the gate on Wednesday.

Since Jakarta has been hit by its annual floods, the Public Works Ministry has stationed a team of six to continuously monitor the condition of the Ciliwung, the biggest river flowing through the city.

Ibnu and his five colleagues were stationed at the sluice gate to watch the water level and provide regular reports to the crisis center at the ministry. '€œWe can see the water level from this window, so we don'€™t have to go outside,'€ he said, pointing to the water-level measure, which showed the river had risen to 830 centimeters, which meant Alert III (Siaga III).

The six are tasked with monitoring and reporting the water level to the crisis center as well as receiving regular updates from Katulampa sluice gate in Bogor and Depok sluice gate as an early warning system for the city.

'€œWe use two-way handheld transceivers to receive updates from other sluice gates and to report our conditions to the ministry,'€ he said.

Ibnu said as the water level had to be monitored directly and continually, especially during flooding, he and his colleagues usually had to work 24 hours a day, especially during the rainy season.

'€œIf the water level recedes and there is no rain, we can go home one after another but if it is at alert status, we will stay here,'€ he said.

He said he and his fellow employees '€œwere contracted'€ to stay there day and night during the heavy flooding last week when the water level reached alarm level and they did not to go home throughout the emergency situation.

Several units of CCTV had actually been installed at the sluice gate but they were connected directly to City Hall, not to the ministry, he added.

The staff who man around 12 sluice gates in Greater Jakarta rely on their own eyes when monitoring water levels and use radio communication devices to report updates during flooding.

Jerry, an officer at Karet sluice gate in Central Jakarta, for example, still relies on his naked eye to monitor the water levels even though CCTV had been installed. '€œThe CCTV has not been working lately as the cable was cut during the construction of another gate,'€ he said.

Jerry used the monitor device to watch films while on duty instead. '€œI watch movies to kill the time as my friend and I are tasked to remain here 24 hours a day,'€ he said.

Jerry said the team of four deployed at the sluice gate was divided into two shifts. '€œOne pair works 24 hours and will be relieved by the other pair the following day,'€ he said.

The head of Information of the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency, Bambang Surya Putra, described the teams manning the sluice gates as '€œdisaster mitigation warriors'€ because they were the front line in the early warning system, using their eyes and radio equipment to carry out their duties.

'€œAlthough the system is still manual, the information is distributed rapidly and is relatively accurate,'€ he said, adding that the sluice-gate staff should be given adequate training and armed with modern working facilities to assist them in their duty.

He said, however, that the ministry was sometimes late in disseminating information on river conditions to the public. '€œThe rapid provision of information to the public is essential,'€ he said.

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