Jakarta’s Flooding and Residents’ Bad Habit

We are now entering the rainy season and should be ready to face for the worst. And it did really come to happen on Monday, 25 October 2010 when heavy rains felt in Jakarta causing flooding everywhere. Big traffic jam which followed made Jakarta paralyzed and most people came home from their workplaces only by midnight.

The weather in this year seems bizarre since we have got rains almost every day for the whole year through. Was this weather disturbance caused by global warming? Well, we cross the finger that it was not true. The Jakarta residents experience the flooding almost annually but the worst condition happens cyclically every five years. High rainfall, accumulation of garbage, silting up rivers, poor drainage, and lack of soil absorption, are the causes of flooding in Jakarta. The rapid urbanization is also one of the factors which catalyze this poor condition.

Natural Causal Factors

Simak

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As a city situated at the lower mainland, Jakarta is never free from the threat of flooding. During the Dutch colonial era floods inundated Jakarta many times although not as frequent as those happened today. Flood disaster in Jakarta was first recorded in 1621, albeit the construction of several canals to prevent flooding besides its function as transportation means imitating those of cities in the Netherlands.

One of the worst was a catastrophic flood in February 1918 when almost all areas in Jakarta were underwater. Learning from those experiences, the flood control systems were improved, such as Manggarai water gates. But it was not enough. Less than 20 years since the completion of the flood canal project, some areas of Batavia were again heavily flooded in 1930 and in 1932. These conditions arose because of the degradation of the upstream catchment areas, where the forest in the Puncak and the surrounding was converted into tea and rubber plantations because of the price hike happened in the 1930s.  

To compensate that degrading impact, the construction of the west flood canal which started in 1920 was accelerated. After independence, the city government tried to complete the project but was bogged down for some years because it passed the highly populated regions. 

Several efforts were carried out among others the construction of water reservoirs in 1965, Cengkareng Drainage System in 1983, east flood canal (EFC) in 2002. When the EFC is completed, at the end of 2010 (?), there will be greenery space along the canal banks with special lanes for jogging and bike-riders. We are afraid that such good planning will only become a daydreaming, as the city water transport in this canal which was in operation two years ago only lasted for six months.

Residents’ Bad Habit

Another factor which causes flooding is the community’s bad habit in throwing garbage to any flowing water, drains, rivers and canals. Most often waste from city residents living at the river bank are not gathered and people throw it indifferently into the river.  Although the city employees regularly take out the garbage,  the rivers are always full of solid waste as people preserve their bad habit.  

Jakarta Public Works Department is planning to increase the number of automatic garbage strainer units along the river which is obviously very costly. The city government has launched the Program of Clean Ciliwung with the target to freed it from the trash in 2012. The program is intended to increase public awareness, and to keep the spirit of the citizens not to throw garbage into the rivers.

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But it would be not enough. SimakThe city government has, in addition, to treat all the areas along the river banks as green belt and greenery areas. The slum area at the river banks should be removed. Residents who live at the river banks must be enforced not throwing the waste into the river. The city government should issue a decree to fine those who violate the rule, while providing sufficient garbage disposals.

A campaign to change Jakarta residents' bad habit should be continuously launched. The rivers and canals in Jakarta should be free of waste and garbage.  "Throwing the garbage into the river is as bad as throwing the garbage to the road!"

Have We Learnt the Lessons?

The recent fire incident that damaged the Musi Bridge in Palembang reminds us of the similar unpleasant event happened under the fly-over toll road in North Jakarta a couple years ago. These grotesque fire incidents indicate that we are indifferent, reckless and careless when it related to the public properties. This grim attitude is not only limited to the character of the local people or the respective institutions concerned but to our society and nation as a whole. 

It seems that we are quite capable to construct nice toll roads, immense bridges, and other important infrastructures but we don’t know how to maintain them. In August 2007 the fire burnt down the “Jembatan Tiga” fly-over toll road in North Jakarta caused initially by a fire sparked from one of the shelters beneath. The incident seriously weakened the steel structure of the concrete blocks and damaged heavily the toll road, jammed the traffic in North Jakarta for months.

The problems arose when in 2002 the Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure (MoSRI) gave permits to the poor to live under the toll roads through the “memorable” decree No. 214/KPTS/M/2002. As everybody had foreseen, the area under the fly-over toll road soon became slum areas. 

Under such Ministry decree, the occupants obviously considered themselves as having the full right in doing their household and daily activities whatever it was, cooking including. As the condition under the toll road getting worse and uncontrollable, the permit was finally annulled by the Minister of Public Works at the end of 2006.

But as we all know, once one allows and tolerates illegal shelters to be built and grown in a certain area, it is hard and almost impossible to evict them to other settlements, not to mention those having the permit, even with some compensation. And, then, suddenly they became illegal occupants as the permit was annulled. The burden was shifted to the city government which should, then, handled properly and carefully all those messy.

The fund spent on the renovation of the toll road was more than Rp40 billion. A big question remains unanswered. How come that such permission is given without due considerations on the aspect of damaging risk that might be caused by the occupants of the shelters? How come that such vital and expensive toll road was allowed to be used simply as a collective roof for the slum shelters? The decree No. 214/KPTS/M/2002 of the MoSRI issued in 2002 was, indeed, the biggest blunder ever made by a government institution. 

The situation became worst when the occupants did not have any guilty feeling whatsoever and protested the plan to remove them from the area under the fly-over toll road and held a demo under the coordination of  “Urban Poor Consortium” NGO, and wanted to rebuild their burnt houses. The occupants simply rejected the offer when the city government planned to remove them to another place even with compensation.

This problem emerged again and again because we are too indifferent and careless. we are used to looking to the problem of the poverty upside down. We wanted to give compensations or resettle them in modest apartments rather than giving those facilities to the more disciplined good poor people who were in the same deprived conditions but more observant to the laws and orders. 

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And now there again happens the fire incident damaging the Musi Bridge in Palembang on 10 October 2010. The fire razed the traditional market which is allowed to settle under the bridge causing serious damage to the bridge. The  Musi bridge is not only a vital and expensive infrastructure but also a prestigious monumental icon of the region. It is also monumental as it was the first longest bridge ever constructed in the country integrating the road networks in Sumatra. 

We hope that the bridge's supporting steel was not heavily damaged which might cause such a beautiful bridge collapse. Were these reckless, careless and indifferent attitudes towards the safety and security of the public properties really our national character? 

Have we learned the lessons?

The Slum Areas and the Image of the Railway State Company

When you have a chance traveling by train, just after leaving the Kota (City) or Senen stations, you will see slums at the sides of the railway's tracks.  The efforts to cope with the slums in Jakarta has by far given no result, especially when facing the slums within the areas of  PT. Kereta Api Indonesia, the railway state-owned company.

The slums certainly degenerate the city living condition. The occupants construct illegally simple houses made of woods or sometimes plastic materials, without sanitation and no legal electricity. They can stay there persistently because of the indifference and careless of the station authority for allowing such slums and in some degree the electricity officials for the continuous supply of illegal electric power. This situation can no longer be tolerated, especially when it involves the "collaboration" between the slum occupants and the company's security officers. 

The occupants mostly come from outside Jakarta,  the people who are seeking for opportunities to earn money as sidewalk traders and such kinds or collecting waste articles. Most occupants are illegal residents who don’t have any city identity cards. Some of them live almost permanently and some others are seasonally such as farm-laborers who come to Jakarta only temporarily after rice cultivation and stay there until the harvesting time. 

Many efforts to remove the slum shelters from the public area have been launched several times but without result. The occupants always come back within a couple days after the eviction and rebuild their shelters without facing any difficulty.  

The banning of the slums in Jakarta and especially along the railway tracks is urgently needed. It is not the question of the social problem of poverty that the government tolerates such indecent and irresponsible way of living. There are many poor who do not want to live in such a condition because of their honor and dignity. It is more on the question of willingness and determination of the related parties’ concern to solve the problem once for all.

According to the official estimation, it requires at least two years to complete the program relocating people living along the railway tracks. To carry out the program, the central government has allocated the fund around Rp 2 trillion in the period of 2010 to 2012. The fund will be spent for the construction of rail fences, tree planting along the railway tracks and relocating the illegal occupants of the area.

The government should have the political will and strong determination to clear the slum areas with comprehensive planning and target. The same attitude should be also adopted by the management of PT. Kereta Api Indonesia. The management should put stress more on the tidiness of the area surrounding the station and railway tracks, on safety and the safeguard of the state properties. 

The management must demonstrate their attitude towards the safety by strongly forbidding the passengers to ride on the roof of the train coach which is by any standard cannot be tolerated any longer. The train drivers who have high responsibility on bringing such valuable assets and the safety of so many passengers should be paid more attention to their remuneration and welfare albeit their category as blue-collar workers. Many accidents happen in the form of trains collisions and the recent Rangkasbitung incident on October 11, 2010, where so many train coaches burnt heavily indicate that something wrong happens within  PT. Kereta Api management.

Jakarta, the Greenery Area?

If you lived in Jakarta a couple of decades ago, you experienced as living in a big village.  There was a movie entitled "Big Village" telling the story about life in Jakarta on those days. Jakarta indeed had been known as a big village which gradually changed into a big metropolitan with many skyscrapers and concrete blocks. Now Jakarta is getting hotter and more polluted due to the increase in the number of vehicles moving around and the lack of greenery areas in the city. 

The city government is planning the development of city forest around 30% of the total Jakarta area. However, the target seems too optimistic because the greenery area dwindled drastically from 27%  in the early 1960s to only 9.5% as of today, making Jakarta become barren. Instead of having a city forest, we get a forest of concrete blocks. What amazing development!

 Plants are necessary for improving air quality through the process of photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. Every one hectare of greenery area can convert 3.7 tons of CO2 – resulting from human activities, industry, and vehicles – to become 2 tons of O2.

Today, the city forest is prevailing in 14 locations including city forest of Kemayoran, Halim Perdana Kusuma, Pondok Kelapa, Cijantung, Srengseng, and the University of Indonesia. The activities of planting more trees in those locations last year were mainly handled by privates sectors through the program of one man one tree. This program was launched after the city government was only able to allocate a meager budget for such activities. 

An exemplary successful model of the man-made forest of 6.3 hectares at Kemayoran developed starting four years ago. Various trees of 1,700 species have grown up well and now become the den for around 90 species of birds. It becomes the city lungs producing fresh air for people living in the nearby areas and making their living condition become healthier. Other public parks recently developed are Taman Menteng and Taman Mahakam which changes the landscape a lot for the better. 

The officials of the city park department have set the plan to cultivate more rare and exotic plants in the whole city forests. We are happy with that planning and hope that it will be seriously implemented. We appreciate the sidewalk ornamental plant traders in Jakarta. They make the street where they sell their goods to become tidier, greenery and beautiful. 

 Due to the worsening condition of the ecosystem in the coast of  Jakarta, some of the activist groups planted seedlings of mangrove in a belt along the coast which in turn might hamper the coastal erosion in North Jakarta. As to the present condition, not only the erosion of the coast has taken place for years, the intrusion of seawater has even reached the area around the National Monument.

The city government hopes that the people movement might gain two results in at once: Jakarta is more greenery and coastal erosion is reduced. But what is more important in such an activity is that people are taught to be more aware of maintaining good ecosystem and more careful in improving the environmental condition.

Some people criticized the City Park Department in their efforts to create new forest had put stress more to the aspect of aesthetic rather than their effects on the environment. They pointed out the plantation of some palm trees, which they claimed the trees absorb too much water for themselves. We are, however,  in the opinion of the contrary. Many of the plant species cultivated along the street do not meet the esthetical aspect at all. 

The Department of City Park still has to pay more attention to it. Albeit they contribute less for the greenery spaces, the palm tree, for example,  is able to give the impression of tropical exotics which represents Indonesian image as a country located along the equator.  Maybe we can take the lessons from the big cities located in the similar condition such as Singapore, Honolulu, Los Angelos or the cities along the Mediterranean.  

Jakarta Bird Markets and Endangered Species

If you have spare time in the weekdays or especially in weekend and if you are a bird-lover, you can take a walk to Jalan Pramuka in Matraman and Jatinegara in East Jakarta where you can find bird markets among many existing in Jakarta. The birds sold in this market are ranging from local to imported including the rare ones.  

For local birds, we can find Java turtledove, yellow orioles, pigeons, Papuan parrots, Bali starlings, Papuan parrots, or some kinds of birds of paradise and canaries. Some traders even have collections of tropically imported birds such as Guatemalan parrots, Mexican parrots, and some other ones. Most birds on sales here are able to sing loudly, which attract customers who mostly love singing birds to come here.

The traders provide their customers with bird cages of different sizes, ornaments, and quality. Cage materials are also varied, ranging from the teakwood up to mahogany and iron which has an antique design and color.  Special food for birds and animals can also be found, including small insects and larvae. 

If you step into the market, you will be surprised, because this bird market does not simply sell birds, but also other kinds of animals such as orangutan and Sumatran tiger despite the prohibitions of the government and internationally strict regulations. Others which are on sales are Celebes macaque, a crested macaque, black monkey, and the long-limb gibbons. These animals are smuggled into the market and frequently in poor condition due to the inability of the traders to provide them with nutrient and enough food.

In case you are really interested in certain species, but it is not available, the traders can guarantee you that they can search for the animal in the next few days, and you can come to the spot on the compromised day to buy and take it home. Here in bird markets, there are at least 200 traders who earn money just from buying and selling rare birds and animals. 

The Matraman bird market is the biggest in Southeast Asia and was inaugurated by Governor Ali Sadikin in 1975. Initially, it was intended to collect and sell local birds, but as time goes, the traders start selling the exotic and endangered species of birds and animals. The Jatinegara bird market in East Jakarta also sells similar rare birds and animals though on a smaller scale. 

Buyers must be careful to buy the birds here because their health condition is questionable and there are a lot of brokers who try to offer their help – certainly with extra payment. We are really sorry to the fact that some of the species which are sold here might extinct on earth. The government, especially the local one,  should pay more attention to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issuing the list birds and animals which are about to extinct and observe strictly the regulation by banning such animal trades. The species listed in IUCN as endangered species among others are Bali starling, Java hawk, Sumatran tiger, Java rhinoceros, birds of paradise and orangutan.

Traders of rare birds at Pramuka bird market are under the protection of preman (thugs). The problem keeps on going because regulations are not implementable; demand from foreign countries for rare birds and animals is high; the networks to foreign countries are already established, and people are not quite aware of the importance of maintaining the rare species as the world inheritance.

In commemoration of the World Wildlife Day on October 3, 2010, many people – citizens and also some expatriates – rallied at Hotel Indonesia, Central Jakarta, urging the city government to pay more attention to the illegal bird sales and stop any activities of certain people catching, keeping and selling various kinds of birds, some of which are on the brink of their extinction. Some posters and banners held by the demonstrators during the rally expressed their wishes and concerns such as: “House of birds in the forest, not the bird markets” and “We march against the wildlife trade.” 

And how about you?