Arientha Primanita, Jakarta Globe 13 May 09;
Thousands of homes in eight urban wards across North Jakarta were inundated with sea water on Tuesday morning, after a 2.5-meter surge of water struck upscale Pantai Mutiara housing complex in Ancol.
The wave caused a 60-meter-long portion of the complex’s 420-meter-long dam to burst.
Water levels reached up to 60 centimeters in the Penjaringan area, while State Junior High School 22 and the Kapuk Muara ward office were submerged in up to 40 centimeters of water, according to data from the Coordinating Unit for Disaster and Evacuation Management.
Due to its proximity to the dam, the Pluit area was hit hard, while the Pantai Mutiara Residence was flooded in up to 60 centimeters of water.
Irvan Amtha, head of the water management division in Jakarta’s Public Works Agency, said the dam had been temporarily patched up with sand. He said that local residents had also helped to maintain the dam.
Irvan said the dam burst early on Tuesday morning because it could not withstand the 2.5-meter high wave.
“The height of that wave was like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he said. “Last year, waves only reached 220 centimeters.”
The dam also cracked last year, but in a different place, Irvan added.
He explained that the dam was not built to block tidal flows. Rather, it was just a long, concrete wall near the shoreline built by the developer of the Pantai Mutiara complex.
Irvan said that the developer initially wanted to construct a tidal wall, but that these plans were postponed.
City Councilor Sayogo Hendrosubroto, chairman of Commission D under the City Council, which oversees developmental and environmental issues, blamed the flood on poor maintenance of the dam.
The Jakarta city administration, he said, had yet to propose a budget to maintain the city’s dams, including the Pantai Mutiara dam.
“That dam is not well maintained,” Sayogo said.
The city was always looking out for new projects, but rarely paid attention to existing facilities, he said.
“We’re not great at maintaining projects,” he added.
Tarjuki, head of the water resources division head at the Jakarta Public Works Agency, said that the city government had the funds to maintain the city’s dams.
“The funds for that are in the emergency budget,” he said, adding that there was Rp. 2.5 billion ($242,500) in available funding for material purchases, in addition to a working fund of up to
Rp 5 billion.
Tarjuki said that the Public Works Agency had become more aware of dam-related problems, and that they would monitor the dam and actually make it higher, if necessary.
Dams along the North Jakarta shoreline average between 2.8 meters and 3.5 meters in height.
Budi Widiantoro, the head of the city’s Public Works Agency, said that the dam that burst on Tuesday morning in Pluit was the responsibility of the developer of the Pantai Mutiara housing complex, because the developer had not handed responsibility for the dam over to the city.
