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Djarot in charge while Ahok in court
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Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat speaks to reporters at City Hall on Feb. 13. (Jakarta Administration/File)
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akarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat took charge on the first day back at the office after he and Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama returned from campaign leave, since Ahok had to spend most of the day to attend his blasphemy trial.
Ahok showed up at City Hall at 7 a.m. to briefly meet some residents who had come to see him, but soon departed for the Agriculture Ministry’s auditorium, where the hearing was being held.
Djarot came later and had a coordination meeting with all city agencies at the Technical Agency’s office on Jl. Abdul Moeis, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta. Soon after, he visited city offices in Central Jakarta, East Jakarta and South Jakarta for briefings.
During the meetings, Djarot addressed several issues, especially flood mitigation.
“Although Jakarta has had heavy downpours, thank God flooding in the city is [less] severe,” Djarot said. “Some areas were inundated, but no evacuation measures were needed so far,” he said.
On Sunday evening, the Ciliwung River overflowed following heavy downpours in West Java, and its water inundated around 700 homes in flood-prone areas of Kampung Arus, Kramatjati, East Jakarta by up to 70 centimeters.
Commenting on the situation, Djarot stressed that the water receded within less than four hours, in contrast to flooding in the past, when the water would stay for days.
“Floods also [often require] evacuation measures, but so far, there were no such things,” he said, attributing the improved conditions to the city’s flood mitigation efforts. “This means our drainage systems are getting better.”
The improved system, he said, was the result of a drainage and river-normalization program, in which officials sought to restore the functions of rivers and ditches in the capital.
“We also aim to build more open green and blue spaces, while [we are] building more embankments downstream,” he said, adding that aside from that, city officials were ensuring that pumps in the capital were working well during the recent rainy days.
Such measures are needed to prevent the kind of severe floods the capital, including the upscale areas of Kemang, South Jakarta, saw last year, with up to 70 cm of floodwater.
Djarot added that the number of flood-prone areas in the capital had decreased.
(Read also: Ahok-Djarot hold party with supporters, celebrities)
The Jakarta Water Management Agency has noted that the number of flood-prone areas in the capital dropped to 80 in December from 486 in December 2015.
Meanwhile, The Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Jakarta) registered 86 flood incidents throughout 2016 — an increase from 27 incidents in 2015.
The increase could be attributed to unusually strong rain during the dry season of 2016 as a result of the cooling climatic phenomenon of La Niña.
Nonetheless, compared with 2015, the 2016 incidents affected fewer people.
Based on data from BPBD Jakarta, the 27 flood incidents in 2015 affected 282,138 people and forced 45,813 of them into temporary shelters. The floods also claimed 13 lives.
Meanwhile, the 2016 floods impacted 232,577 people, with 7,760 residents evacuating themselves and two people dying.
