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Red alert: Jakarta hit with early flooding
A flood of garbage: Volunteers struggle to remove a log from a mountain of garbage clogging a section of the Ciliwung River under the Kalibata Bridge in South Jakarta on Thursday
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span class="inline inline-center">A flood of garbage: Volunteers struggle to remove a log from a mountain of garbage clogging a section of the Ciliwung River under the Kalibata Bridge in South Jakarta on Thursday. Jakartans' notorious habit to use rivers as a dump has been blamed for pollution and widespread flooding during the rainy season. JP/P.J. Leo
Floodwater inundated flood-prone neighborhoods in Jakarta early Thursday following heavy downpour in upstream areas of Bogor and Depok, West Java, a day earlier.
A number of areas in North, South and East Jakarta experienced the worst of the floods, which should have started in January instead of November.
Floodwater at a depth of up to 50 centimeters inundated the busy Jl. Gunung Sahari in North Jakarta as well as Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta causing severe traffic gridlock.
A number of vehicles got stuck and were forced to reroute.
Officials have attributed the early flooding to the unexpected rise in rainfall as well as insufficient flood mitigation infrastructure.
According to the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), there are seven subdistricts in East Jakarta and South Jakarta that are known as flood-prone areas; they are Pangadegan, Rawa Jati, Kampung Melayu, Bidara Cina and Cililitan, where more than 20 community units (RW) were affected by floods of various depths ranging from 30 centimeters to 400 cm.
More than 20,000 people living in these areas were affected but only a small percentage of them were evacuated to temporary shelters.
BPBD spokesman Bambang Surya Putra pointed out that more than 1,000 people had been evacuated to 13 temporary shelters established near the flooded areas as of Thursday afternoon.
This figure, however, is believed to have increased as more residents have started to leave their flood-damaged homes.
Jatinegara district leader Syofian Taher cited that more than 700 his residents living in Kampung Pulo were relocated to temporary shelters.
The local authority has also distributed aid and meals to the evacuees.
Meanwhile, the South Jakarta Police have established temporary police posts near flooded residential areas in an effort to minimize potential crime while the houses are left empty. 'We have established police posts in Bukit Duri and Pancoran Kalibata,' South Jakarta Police spokesman Comr. Aswin said.
Separately, Jakarta Governor Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama said that he would closely monitor the latest flood situation.
The newly inaugurated governor pointed out that more than 600 RW across the capital were prone to flood. 'Those areas will likely get when there is a heavy rainstorm.'
Ahok also reiterated that he would lead a meeting with the Public Works Agency to discuss immediate mitigation efforts.
He also called on relevant authorities to cut red-tape to expedite flood mitigation efforts, including by scrapping the bidding to buy fuel for water pump engines. 'We will channel the funds to the pump attendants so they can immediately buy the fuel when necessary.'
Ahok also blamed the lack of coordination among relevant authorities for exacerbating flood mitigation efforts. 'All agencies and working units actually know what they have to do when a flood comes. But they are not well-managed and coordinated.'
