F

ebruary has always given Jakarta a reason to be happy with the new lunar year arriving, but at the same time concerned with seasonal floods in many parts of the capital as happened Monday.

Thousands of people were displaced and many roads became inaccessible as a result of incessant rain that hit Jakarta and its southern neighbor, Bogor, over the last few days. Flooding does not discriminate, as it also affected the State Palace, which is supposed to be one of the most protected places in the country.

The bad news is the worse has not yet come. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forecast said torrential rain in the capital and the upper areas would continue in the coming days. If the prediction materializes, the horror of major flooding in 2007 and 2012 will recur.

Rated as the worst in the last 100 years, the 2007 floods sank about 60 percent of the city'€™s territory. It killed at least 80 people, displaced 320,000 people and caused some
Rp 4.3 trillion (US$344 million) in losses due to the damage of property and infrastructure.

In the short term, the city administration certainly needs to improve flood mitigation infrastructure once the current situation is over. For the time being, however, all resources should be dedicated to efforts to ease the misery of those affected by the flooding. Given its frequent occurrence, there is no reason for relevant city agencies to not do their best to organize emergency relief for the flood victims, who are in urgent need of shelters, meals and healthcare.

The city administration, in cooperation with the central government, has long sought avenues to improve flood mitigation infrastructure. The most recent endeavors included dredging major rivers dissecting the city, expanding water reservoirs and installing of more water pumps in many parts of the city.

Previously, the city managed to develop the East Flood Canal, which eased the impact of flood in the eastern part of Jakarta.

All these projects, however, remain a small part of the giant effort that Jakarta will have to carry out to protect its people from the tormenting floods. Alas, the fast-growing population has and will impede mitigation efforts.

The unfinished business includes flood prevention projects that have to involve Jakarta'€™s West Java neighbors, particularly Bogor and Depok, where the rivers blamed for the floods originate. The vital flood mitigation project includes a reforestation project in the Puncak area and the development of giant dams in Bogor. The projects are pressing to reduce the volume of water flowing through the rivers.

This is where the central government has to play a key role to speed up the implementation of the elusive projects.

Reducing the impact of the floods was part of now President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s campaign when he ran for governor. Although he is no longer the city leader, his moral obligation to fulfill his past promise to Jakarta remains.