Jakarta Post 4 Jun 16;
Even though the dry season in Jakarta usually starts in April, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency ( BMKG ) predicts that parts of the city will continue receiving some high intensity rain at intervals through June and July.
“Central and South Jakarta may still have high intensity rains, while other parts of the city could see rain with low intensity,” the agency’s head of early warnings Kukuh Ribudiyanto told The Jakarta Post recently.
Flooding, therefore, might happen in certain areas of the city, particularly in neighborhoods where waterways are not cleared from silt and garbage, Kukuh said.
However, the rains in June and July are not expected to be as intense as those in April and May, the usual transitional months between the rainy and dry seasons.
He explained that the unusual rains in Jakarta were partly caused by wind convergence in western Indonesia and by La Nina, a phenomenon characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific.
“La Nina in the Pacific Ocean will contribute to the heating of sea temperatures here from June to July,” Kukuh said.
According to the BMKG’s official website, bmkg.go.id, the rainfall in the city during the June-July period may reach 100-150 millimeters per month, compared to 200-300 mm in May.
Separately, head of the Jakarta Water Management Agency Teguh Hendrawan said that his office had anticipated the possibility of La Nina weather in June and July.
“In anticipation of floods in the city, the agency has been cleaning up waterways, reservoirs and lakes from silt and garbage, mapping places with possible inundation and installing new pumps,” Teguh told the Post.
Teguh added that his office would also monitor the possibility of landslides in Jagakarsa, Pesanggrahan and Kemang, all in South Jakarta, over June and July.
Jakarta Sanitation Agency deputy head Ali Maulana Hakim said that his agency had been cooperating with the Water Management Agency to clean up silt and garbage in waterways.
“We have mapped places vulnerable to silt piling, particularly those in populated areas of the city,” Ali told the Post over the phone.
He added that his office had prepared 53 heavy equipment units of various types to clean up 13 rivers and waterways to enhance water flow.
Meanwhile, Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency ( BPBD ) head Bambang Suryaputra said that his office was ready to prevent flooding in the city.
“If we find any inundation in the city through closed circuit television [CCTV], for example, we will ask the sanitation agency to assign contract workers [PPSU] to clear it,” Bambang told the Post over the phone.
Bambang said that he hoped citizens would report quickly if they found any inundation in their neighborhoods through Qlue, the administration’s smartphone application for monitoring developments in the city. ( rez )
