Salim Osman, Straits Times 6 Feb 08;
Indonesian President promises central govt help in curbing the annual problem
Even if there was no rain in north Jakarta, flooding could take place during high tide. The problem is that many of our mangrove swamps that act as natural barriers have been replaced by shopping malls and housing estates so that sea water can flow inland during high tide.
JAKARTA - SIX months after the Jakarta Governor's election promise to end the city's annual floods, and with parts of the capital currently under water, Indonesia's President has told him it is time to solve the problem.
Heavy rain last Friday inundated several parts of Jakarta, cutting off the access road to the Soekarno-Hatta airport in Cengkaring for three days and leaving President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono among those trapped by rising waters.
And with more heavy rain predicted, the President met Governor Fauzi Bowo yesterday, telling him he had to work with the central government to end the flooding problem, provincial government spokesman Arie Soedarto told The Straits Times.
But the head of state appeared to be offering a carrot as well as a stick, as Mr Soedarto added: 'The President also promised that the central government would share the load with the Jakarta provincial government.'
Mr Fauzi had said on Monday, during his rounds of flood-hit areas, that funding was a problem, as getting flood-relief projects off the ground would cost the province around 1.2 trillion rupiah (S$182 million).
According to the spokesman, the President and the governor agreed on a number of projects they wanted to work on, including construction of the East Flood Canal to channel flood water to the Java Sea, and the building of relief reservoirs.
Meanwhile, four days after last Friday's deluge, some low-lying areas in west and north Jakarta were still knee-deep in water yesterday.
Office manager Sutrisno, 43, who lives in the flood-prone Rawabuaya district of West Jakarta, told The Straits Times: 'We are tired of having to put up with this annual flooding.
'The governor promised to solve the flood problem during his election campaign but has not done much to ease our suffering.'
But there may be limits to what can be done, as environmentalists say that Jakarta is prone to flooding partly because 40 per cent of the city of 12 million people is below sea level.
And Mr Fauzi told reporters after meeting the President yesterday that Jakarta was now 40cm lower than it was 18 years ago because of subsidence caused by intensive tapping of ground water by residents.
Mr Hasbi Abdul Azis of environmental group Walhi Indonesia told The Straits Times that even if there was no rain in north Jakarta, flooding could take place during high tide.
He added that rapid development of shopping malls and housing estates in catchment areas were also contributing factors to the severe flooding.
'The problem is that many of our mangrove swamps that act as natural barriers have been replaced by shopping malls and housing estates so that sea water can flow inland during high tide,' he said.
