Central and local government officials have shifted into high gear to respond to Jakarta’s flood emergency as forecasts say that the city can expect monsoon rains this weekend.
Intense rainfall has been forecast for next week for Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara from the arrival of the Asian monsoon, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).
Damage control: Jakarta
Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inspects repairs of an embankment in
Latuharhari, Central Jakarta, on Friday. The embankment collapsed on
Thursday, worsening flooding near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
Exacerbating the state of emergency that has been declared in the capital, the BKMG said that heavy rains, perhaps as much as 50 millimeters, would fall on Jakarta this weekend alone.
As residents of Jakarta prepared for the worst, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) formed two response teams, according to BNPB chief Syamsul Maarif.
The first team, led by the Public Works Ministry’s directorate for rivers and beaches, will handle problems associated the city’s rivers. The team’s principal task is repairing the damage to the 50-meter section of the West Flood Canal that collapsed on Thursday.
After the canal collapsed near Jl. Latuharhari in Menteng, Central Jakarta, floods inundated nearby railway tracks, Jl. Teluk Betung and the major thoroughfares of the Sudirman Central Business District, Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin.
Meanwhile, the second team, led by the BNPB’s disaster mitigation and logistics divisions, will aid those displaced by the flood. “The second team has set up 20 soup kitchens and distributed more than 30,000 blankets and 15,000 mats,” Syamsul said.
The evacuees would require 372 tons of rice in coming days, 200 tons of which have been secured.
According to the agency, 102 subdistricts have been inundated as of Friday. More than 97,000 families and almost 250,000 people have been affected and more than 18,000 people have been evacuated. Twelve people have died in flood-related incidents in Jakarta, bringing the flood death toll in Greater Jakarta to 20.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) and the city administration have opened field healthcare posts in all five of Jakarta’s municipalities.
Jakarta administration secretary Fadjar Panjaitan said that city-owned water company PAM Jaya was working with the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency to send tanker trucks to relief centers to deliver fresh water. Private water company PAM Lyonnaise Jaya has also deployed 22 tankers trucks.
Separately, Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said the administration would go all out to repair the damage to the West Flood Canal after he spent most of Friday morning at the site where it collapsed.
“I have ordered that all available foundation stones be delivered to patch the canal. I have also accepted an aid proposal from two private companies,” the governor said.
At the collapse site, soldiers from the Army’s Special Forces Command (Kopassus) were seen joining the work to fix the canal.
The canal partially collapsed after exceptionally prolonged and intense rainfall over the last several days in Jakarta and upstream in Bogor.
The rain brought the water level at the Manggarai sluice in South Jakarta, the city’s key flooding bellwether, to 1,030 centimeters on Thursday, exceeding the highest risk level of 950 centimeters.
The canal overflowed after receiving runoff from the Ciliwung River.
Although no appreciable rain fell in Jakarta on Friday, the canal continued to overflow due to heavy rains upstream.
Jokowi said that repairs to the canal were expected to be complete in the next one or two days. ( thejakartapost.com )
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