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Blame game begins as victims struggle
Evacuation of flood victims should be city's top priority: House speaker
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Deadly water: Floodwaters inundate settlements built along the Ciliwung River, which cuts across Kampung Pulo, East Jakarta, and Bukit Duri in South Jakarta. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has identified 63 flood points across the capital as of Thursday. In total, it has recorded 169 flood points across Greater Jakarta. (Antara/Nova Wahyudi)
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evere flooding affecting millions in Greater Jakarta has quickly reignited a spat among officials and politicians about mitigation strategies while reports of victims struggling to reach safety surfaced one day after the worst floods in the capital since 2013. At least 26 people have died as of Thursday afternoon, while 62,453 have been put up in 308 shelters throughout Greater Jakarta.
Some residents, especially in housing complexes in Bekasi and Bogor in West Java, had to spend the turn of the year on the roof, without food or spare clothes, while the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) struggled to respond to help calls from distressed residents.
On Thursday morning, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stressed that discussing flood mitigation should be done after the evacuation process.
“The central government, the provincial administration and the regency and municipal administrations must all work together to manage [the disaster],” Jokowi told reporters at the Indonesia Stock Exchange building in Jakarta on Thursday.
“The most important thing is to evacuate the victims. The safety and security of the people must be prioritized. We will work on matters [related to] flood management infrastructure later, once the evacuation is finished,” he stressed.
House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani also said the evacuation should be the priority. “The House urges the relevant institutions to immediately handle the flood that has struck Greater Jakarta with interinstitutional coordination and communication, instead of [pointing fingers],” she said in a written statement on Thursday.
Both spoke after a display of discord between Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono during a press conference on the flood on Wednesday.
