Rainy Season Sees Parts of Indonesia Hit by Floods, Landslides by Fardah

      Jakarta, Nov 20, 2012  (ANTARA News) - The rainy season has only begun in Indonesia, which has only two seasons, rainy (November to March) and dry (June to October), yet a number of provinces have already experienced floods and landslides.
      And this year, the nation has to be extra careful, as Jakarta anticipates floods, which come in five-year cycle. Jakarta authorities fear the capital city will again see major floods this year, half a decade after the massive deluge in 2007 that killed more than 80 people in Jakarta and surrounding areas.

       The Jakarta administration has made adequate preparations in anticipation of floods, according to Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
      "We are well-prepared to deal with floods. The necessary facilities and personnel are ready," he said, when leading a flood simulation exercise near the National Monument in Central Jakarta on November 6.
      "However, I need to see the organizational management in the field," Jokowi stated.
     "Organizational management includes strategic planning with regard to flood locations, evacuation sites, emergency hospitals and public kitchen," he explained.
     "Basically, the preparations regarding facilities and personnel are 90 percent over, while the remaining 10 percent is about organizational management, which still needs to be checked," Jokowi added.

Jakarta authorities have also ensured that there will be sufficient supply of clean water for the city`s residents in case there is a flood. The clean drinking water will be supplied by Palyja (22 tanks), Aetra (10 tanks), and Jakarta`s water supply company PDAM Jaya (two tanks).

Last year, the Jakarta Legislative Council approved the allocation of Rp557 billion, from the city`s 2012 budget, to disaster relief aid.

Jakarta authorities have also constructed a 23.5-kilometre canal to protect the eastern part of the capital from flooding. Its construction, which is expected to be fully completed this year, began in 2003, with operations starting in late 2009, covering five major waterways in East Jakarta.

Over the past two days, however, some parts of Jatinegara sub-district, East Jakarta, have been flooded.

"We need a better process to tackle the city`s flood problems," Jokowi said.

Apart from Jakarta, floods and landslides have been reported over the past two weeks in several provinces across Indonesia, such as West Sulawesi, West Java, North Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu, and Banten.

Earlier this month, in Mamasa district, West Sulawesi, flash floods and landslides hit East Batangharu village and killed 14 people while three others were reported missing.

In West Java, floods and landslides claimed two lives in Bandung district on November 18. Meanwhile, in Tasik Malaya, West Java, a landslide wreaked havoc on Cigalontang road, cutting off access to and from Tasikmalaya district.

"The landslide that occurred on Sunday night (November 18) hampered the movement of cars and motorcycles and prevented them from passing through the Cigalontang road," Cigalontang subdistrict police chief, Adjunct Commissioner Idan Wahyudin, said.

The 15-metre-long and 20-metre-wide avalanche blocked the road in the Pusparaja village of Tasikmalaya district. Another West Javan district hit by floods and landslides was Sukabumi, where 10 sub-districts were affected following incessant heavy rains on November 18.

"Based on the reports we have received, 10 sub-districts were struck by landslides and five houses were destroyed, buried under mud, in Caringin sub-district," said Iwan Setiawan, the head of the Sukabumi disaster mitigation office, in Sukabumi on Monday.

The 10 landslide-affected sub-districts are Caringin, Cisaat, Sukaraja, Sukabumi, Kadudampit, Kalapa Nunggal, Kabandungan, Cisolok, Parungkuda and Kabandungan. The worst-hit is Caringin, where five houses were destroyed at Cikembang and Sukamulya villages. However, no casualties have been reported so far.

"The rains fall almost every day in Sukabumi, which has a number of landslide-prone areas," Iwan noted.

"We have been on the alert because the weather conditions worsened of late. There have been heavy downpours all day long. We have also deployed a rapid-reaction team for disaster mitigation in order to monitor every region and report even minor disasters," he said.

The Sukabumi authorities have already sent relief aid consisting of, among other things, instant food and bathing and sleeping facilities to the affected areas.

Floods and landslides were also reported to have hit several sub-districts in Lebak district, Banten province, Java`s westernmost province, damaging a number of houses.

"No fatalities have been reported so far," said Muklis, the head of the Lebak disaster mitigation office, in Lebak on Monday.

He noted that incessant heavy rainfall on Sunday triggered the floods and landslides. The disaster-affected sub-districts are Leuwidamar, Cimarga, Sobang and Lebak Gedong.

Muklis stated that 70 houses were swept away and 100 others inundated, with floodwaters reaching a height of up to 50 cm.

In Sobang and Lebak Gedong, 16 houses are still under threat of landslides, while nine have been damaged and three others almost destroyed.

"Volunteers, military personnel and Red Cross officers have moved the victims, who have lost their houses, to safer areas," Muklis said.

The Lebak authorities have sent relief aid to the victims and also put the region`s emergency personnel on alert, because heavy rains are forecast to continue in the coming few weeks.

A number of evacuation facilities, such as rubber boats and ambulances, have been kept ready in anticipation of emergency situations.

In Riau province, Sumatra Island, floods inundated hundreds of houses in Rumbai sub-district, Pekanbaru district, with floodwaters reaching a height of up to 90 cm due to incessant downpour since early Monday.

"Since the early hours, our house has been flooded and our furniture is wet," said Khairul, a 44-year-old local resident from Limbungan Baru, Rumbai.

The flood-hit areas of Rumbai Pesisir are Harmonis, Khayangan, Nusa Indah, and Meranti Pandak.

Some 300 inhabitants of the Witayu housing complex in Rumbai were evacuated to emergency tents set up by the local authorities.

Free medical services are being provided as the victims have started contracting diarrhoea and skin diseases.

A private Islamic elementary school, Miftahuddin, situated in Meranti Pandak, got flooded after Siak River overflowed. The students had been sent home earlier.

In Bengkulu province, Sumatra, several districts in Seluma regency were hit by floods last week, with some 630 houses submerged.

"The floods were triggered by incessant downpours that made several rivers overflow," Seluma District Head Bundra Jaya said on November 14.

Hundreds of houses were inundated, with floodwaters reaching a height of up to 40 cm in Semidang Alas Maras and Talo Kecil sub-districts.

The district head visited the flood-hit villages and supervised the distribution of food aid to flood victims. No casualties and damages have been reported so far.

On November 16, a woman was buried alive in a landslide in the North Sumatran island of Nias.

"Ina Algeano, 42, was buried alive in a landslide in the village of Amandraya, in South Nias," said Ahmad Hidayat Nasution, the head of the North Sumatra Natural Disaster Control Agency, recently.

"She was trying to help her son who fell on the slippery ground, when piles of mud and soil fell on her and buried her alive," he explained.

"An overflow in the Eho River resulted in the flooding of a nearby village of Hilisimaetano Ndruso, forcing a number of people to leave their houses," Hidayat continued.

"They were evacuated to safer areas in the district of Manjamolo," he added.

The floods inundated 100 hectares of rice fields in the area. The flood has also hit 16 villages in Nias, forcing villagers to flee to safer places. In West Nias, floods have cut access between Totehosi and Siwilaya, in the subdistrict of Mandrehe. Meanwhile, the Gunung Sitoli subdistrict, five villages were flooded. Some 400 families have been forced to leave their houses for higher altitudes.

According to Indonesia National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) data, as many as 644 disasters hit the country in 2010.

"Approximately 81.5 percent of these were of hydrometeorological in nature, such as floods, landslides, and flash floods," it reported.

According to Indonesian Environmental Affairs Minister Balthasar Kambuaya, the floods and landslides across several provinces in Indonesia were caused by spatial mismanagement and bad spatial planning.

"Undisciplined behaviour regarding spatial management has resulted in floods and landslides," he said in Jakarta on November 19.

The minister stated that good spatial management was crucial for every region "so it is important to make an environmental impact assessment before carrying out a project".

The ministry often holds meetings with various institutions prior to the rainy season, in anticipation of natural disasters such as floods and landslides.

"Garbage is not a major cause of floods, but land conversion and spatial mismanagement are," Kambuaya pointed out.
(T.F001/INE/KR-BSR/B003)