O

n Wednesday afternoon, students of elementary school SD 02 Cilincing in North Jakarta had to cross a flooded road in front of the Cilincing sub-district office.

The road was engulfed by seawater caused by tidal floods.

For two days, two community units (RW) — RW 06 and RW 09 — in Cilincing sub-district have been swamped by the annual flood. Seawater swept over Jl. Cilincing Bakti VI, which is part of both community units where the sub-district office is located.

While it inconvenienced pedestrians, people who live in the area are used to it.

One of the residents, Safrudin, 30, said the flood had not really disturbed their activities.

“What I see from this year’s flood is the color of the water, which is not as black as it was last year,” Safrudin, who is a general worker at the Public Facility Maintenance Agency (PPSU), also known as the “orange troops,” told The Jakarta Post.

Cilincing sub-district head Sugiman said this year’s flood had been worse compared to previous years. Last year, the number of areas affected by the rising seawater level was lower than this year.

“The two community units were inundated by seawater reaching various levels, ranging from 5 to 20 centimeters. Last year, the road in front of our office was not inundated by the flood,” he told the Post.

The flood that has been inundating the two community units has its own cycle. It will creep into the area at around 9 a.m. and recede at around 1 p.m.

Besides the rising seawater level, Sugiman said the damaged Bulak Cabe flood gate had worsened the situation.

The flood gate stops water from the Rawa Malang River from flowing into the Cakung River.

“The flood gate has been rusty and now it is damaged which caused water from the Rawa Malang River to flow into the Cakung River,” he said.

Aside from the damaged flood gate, he said the absence of a pump at the Bulak Cabe flood gate on the Cakung River also affected the situation.

Abdurahman, 64, a resident who also works as the Bulak Cabe flood gatekeeper, said the pump and flood gate were necessary to prevent several areas in the sub-district from flooding.

When the Post met him, Abdurahman added that he and several workers had been trying to repair the flood gate for the last two weeks. The project is expected to finish before Dec. 15.

The rising seawater level has not only affected Cilincing sub-district, but several other sub-districts in North and West Jakarta as well.