TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsJakartans battle floodwaters to reach workplaces
From rubber boats to trucks, workers are forced to make their way through floods on days of heavy rains in the city as their employers often do not provide days off in the event of extreme weather.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A motorist pushes his motorcycle through floodwater on the inundated Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta on Jan. 22, 2026. Heavy rain and bad drainage triggered floods of up to 60 centimeters in depth in the area. (Antara/Ika Maryani)
W
hen floodwater submerged streets across the neighborhood of Kemang in South Jakarta in mid-January, 31-year-old Dyas turned to a rubber boat provided by rescuers to reach her workplace in the nearby Blok M business district.
On normal days, it only takes up to 30 minutes for Dyas to travel to her office at Blok M. But when her flood-prone neighborhood is deluged by waters that can reach up to 85 centimeters in depth, the travel time can stretch to four hours long.
“This wasn’t my first time facing floods on the way home from work [or vice versa],” the telecommunications firm employee recounted. “In years before, I’ve dealt with pretty bad traffic jams from rain and flooding, especially in Kemang.”
Although her workplace allowed her and other flood-affected employees to take two days’ leave, she still had to go to her workplace because the flooding extended beyond this allowance.
For Indonesia’s coastal capital, intense rainfall and flooding can transform Jakarta into a gridlocked hell. Despite this, workers in the city often have little option other than to brave the traffic to get to their workplaces, forcing them to find alternatives to navigate through the waterlogged city.
Read also: Heavy overnight rain causes flooding, congestion across Greater Jakarta
Bara Abbas, 39, is another example, as he has to navigate through floodwaters from his home in neighboring Tangerang municipality, Banten, to his workplace in South Jakarta. One rainy day, he rode his motorcycle through 30 cm of floodwater in Ciledug district, Tangerang, taking twice the normal time to reach his workplace.
