Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama says the city intends to buy a plot of land in neighboring Depok, West Java, as part of its flood-mitigation program. He reiterated on Friday that Ciliwung riverbank areas in Depok were crucial as water catchment areas, the presence of which will help Jakarta, which is situated on lower land compared to Depok, to fight perennial flooding. “The areas are important as water catchments, but in reality many of them have turned into residential areas. We aim to work together with the Depok administration to preserve such areas. But if [the Depok administration] is reluctant, we are willing to buy the land,” Ahok announced at City Hall. A day earlier, however, Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi turned down Ahok’s offer, saying that the deputy governor should focus on the capital’s issues, to which Ahok responded, “I understand and I don’t want to be involved in another administration’s issues. But the thing is, when heavy rain falls, the runoff from Depok will inundate my city.” Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Bambang Musyawardana said that extreme weather was expected to hit in the middle of December. “According to the BMKG [Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency], the upstream area will experience extreme weather from the middle of December, while in Jakarta the weather will be relatively normal,” Bambang said after an emergency meeting recently. Bambang acknowledged, however, that extreme weather in the upstream area would affect Jakarta. “We will focus on 89 subdistricts that are prone to flooding. According to January data, 489 RW [community units] in 124 subdistricts were inundated,” he cited. Ahok warned that floods would be inevitable, adding that the city administration would do its utmost to minimize the impact. “We haven’t been able to prevent flooding no matter how hard we tried in the past year. But we will ensure that we have enough relief, emergency posts, clean water, temporary shelters and so on for evacuees,” the deputy governor said. During the meeting, Ahok also instructed relevant agencies to prepare better for emergencies. “Pak Governor wants all agencies to prepare a list of people in charge in all areas. We will also centralize relief and meal distribution at designated posts so that no officers or volunteers have to distribute meals three times a day to inundated homes. All evacuees should stay in temporary posts or take their meals at the posts,” he explained. During widespread flooding in January, many flood victims opted to stay in their inundated homes, forcing volunteers to deliver meals more than once a day when they should have instead relocated the flood victims. Efforts to anticipate extreme weather will also include traffic management. Transportation Agency operational division head Sunardi Sinaga said the agency would organize traffic detours in areas that had the potential to be inundated during heavy rainfall. “We will also prepare tow trucks to tow vehicles stuck in floodwater,” he said. Sunardi also called on motorcyclists to carry raincoats every day so they would not have to shelter under overpasses during rainfall. “Such habits disrupt traffic and create gridlock,” he said, adding that the Transportation Agency and the Public Order Agency would optimize their human resources to monitor inundated areas. Meanwhile, roadwork planned to fix potholes has been delayed until after rainy season. The Public Works Agency’s road and bridge maintenance head, Juaini, said various areas had road damage of varying degrees. “There are 81 severely damaged areas, 162 with minor damage and 35 potholes across the capital,” Juaini said. Residents can report potholes in their respective neighborhoods to hotline number (021) 3844444, website lapor.ukp.go.id or Twitter @PoskoDPUDKI.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 07:24:42 +0000
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