T

he absence of a flood early warning system in Cipinang Melayu, East Jakarta, has forced its residents to rely on their instincts to brace for any flooding, a fact that questions incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s claim that warning systems for the city’s 13 rivers are functioning properly.

A community unit (RW) head in Cipinang Melayu, Irwan Kurniadi, said that after living for 30 years in a flood-prone area, the residents had been “trained” to read the natural signs that might indicate flooding of the Sunter reservoir could hit their area.

“If the residents notice the river is flowing swiftly and water has started filling the ditches, they will know a flood is coming. We have nothing to warn ourselves except our instincts and experience,” Irwan told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Last week, Irwan said the residents were aware of the flood, which later inundated the area, as heavy downpours continuously hit the village. “We just didn’t expect that the flood would be that bad. We weren’t prepared for such a severe flood. The residents didn’t have time to save their belongings,” Irwan said.

The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) currently uses a text message-based system, called “SMS blast”, to warn people living along riverbanks. However, no warning texts were received by the residents when the flood hit the area, Irwan said.

Wahyu, a resident of Kapuk Muara, North Jakarta, an area that was also inundated by flood last week, also said he received no warning regarding the flood. He hoped that the city administration could warn the residents so they could be able to secure their belongings.

Some Jakartans were lucky to receive a warning. Budi Kristomo, neighborhood unit (RT) head of Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, said that there was a flood warning from the RW head. “The RW head received the flood-warning text from the BPBD and conveyed the message to us through the [local] mosque’s speaker,” Budi said.

Separately, BPBD Jakarta head Husein Murad said the BPBD had posted flood warnings on various social media platforms and on its website. However, he admitted that until now the agency did not have an effective system to predict the flooding of Sunter, Cakung and other reservoirs that were not connected to sluice gates like the Ciliwung, Pesanggrahan, Krukut and Angke rivers.

The BPBD Jakarta could detect potential flooding of those four big rivers before passing on the information to residents through its disaster warning system. Through this system, Husein said, the agency could directly monitor rising water levels in all 12 sluice gates across the city and inform residents to be prepared for any possible flooding through several speakers installed in the subdistricts of Bidara Cina, Kampung Melayu, Petogogan, Ulu Jami and Rawa Buaya.

“We don’t have a monitoring and warning system for the Sunter reservoir because we can’t measure the water level there. All we can do is to update the residents about the weather forecast from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) through our Twitter account and website,” Husein said.

The Sunter reservoir, he continued, was unlike Ciliwung River since the latter’s water level could be measured by the Katulampa sluice gate. If the Katulampa sluice gate showed a level 3 alert, for instance, the agency could warn nearby residents that water was going to likely inundate the Cawang area in the next nine hours. Without a sluice gate, the agency could not warn residents, Husein added.

However, refusing to take the blame, Husein said residents, especially those living in flood-prone areas, should monitor the weather forecast published by the BPBD Jakarta.

“We shouldn’t focus too much on warning residents about possible flooding. We should better prioritize flood prevention, for example, by finishing the construction of sheet piles in some areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, public agency expert Agus Pambagio said that the BPBD could actually predict floods by looking into the flood records of vulnerable areas in the last 20 years. “Flooding could be predicted by observing the rainfall, water discharge and capacity [of a particular] reservoir. I’m confused if they [the BPBD] said flooding couldn’t be predicted,” Agus said.

By considering the rainfall volume and the capacity of a reservoir, the agency could later warn residents about the potential for flooding, he said. Agus added that the agency should work together with RW, RT, and subdistrict heads to warn residents about potential floods.