DESPITE BEING AFFECTED BY FLOODS, INDUSTRIES PROVIDE AID FOR REFUGEES By Fardah

     Jakarta, Jan 23, 2013 (ANTARA) - Major floods hitting Jakarta last week almost crippled the capital city as the inundations forced 30,000 people to take refuge and hundreds of industries to halt operation.

         Flood waters blocked the access to the Jakarta Industrial Estate Pulogadung (JIEP) in East Jakarta, PT JIEP spokesman Achmad Maurizal said last week (Jan 17, 2013).

         JIEP accommodates 375 industries mostly assembling plants and warehouses. The floods affected goods distribution activities, he said.

         "In JIEP, there are 75,000 workers, and 375 companies such as Aqua, Astra Agro, Mediafarma, and SOHO which have been forced to halt their operational activities due to the floods," he said.

         Deputy Chairman of the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin DKI Jakarta) Sarman Simanjorang recently said companies in the Pulogadung industrial zone lost between Rp 1.5 billion and Rp 2 billion per day because of the natural disaster.

         In the Cakung industrial estate (KBN Cakung), flood waters inundated the industrial zone area at a height of up to one meter. Manufacturing equipment of about 90 companies in Cakung were damaged and the financial loss reached approximately Rp 17.1 billion per day.

         Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Bambang Sudjagat said Indonesia's industrial sector has suffered a loss of Rp1 trillion due to floods in Jakarta.

         "The industrial sector has suffered a loss of Rp1 trillion because many firms were forced to stop production.  In addition, goods in their warehouses were damaged because of floods," said Bambang in Jakarta on January 22, 2013.

         The loss to the industrial sector because of floods was huge because industrial components and goods were destroyed by floods, he said.

         "This will affect the schedule of deliveries overseas," he said.

         Small and medium scale industries, including manufacturers of bags and shoes, in Jakarta and Tangerang were severely affected by floods.

         Kadin has urged the government to address the problem of floods in Jakarta to reduce the negative impact of floods on the industrial sector.

         "The government should solve the problem of floods," he said. The government should come up with effective plans to solve the problem of floods so that the growth of the industrial sector will reach 7.1 percent in 2013, he stated.

         Floodwaters have also hampered the access of guests to hotels situated in flood-hit areas, according to a spokesman of the Association of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI).

         "A number of flood-affected hotels are facing difficulties in attracting guests. Even their registered guests were forced to move to other places due to the flooding," PHRI chairperson Yanti Sukamdani said in Jakarta, on January 23, 2013.

         "Currently, hotel room occupancy in Jakarta is only 30-40 percent -  as if it were low season," she pointed out.

         Most hotels have also been facing a shortage of clean water ever since the floods hit Jakarta. "We do not have sufficient clean water here, so the hotels and restaurants in Jakarta must buy it from Bogor," Yanti said.

         State lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) said 50 of its branch offices in the greater Jakarta could not operate normally because of flooding on January 17, 2013, BRI's corporate secretary Muhammad Ali said recently.

         However, despite those losses, members of the Association of Indonesian Companies (Apindo) have donated Rp1 billion and a number of goods to flood victims through the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).
    Apindo's Chairman, Sofjan Wanandi, said the money and goods will help flood victims in Indonesia, as he symbolically handed over the aid to PMI's Chairman, M Jusuf Kalla on January 22, 2013.  
    "Even though many businessmen have suffered losses due to floods, they are keen to help flood victims," Sofjan added.

         "We are working closely with the Indonesian Red Cross, which is capable of distributing aid to victims of disasters," Sofyan Wanandi said.

         He said Apindo comprises businessmen from various companies. Apindo is keen to help flood victims not only in Jakarta but also in other regions, including West Java and Banten.

         Apindo will provide food, beverages and textiles, which are produced by several members of Apindo, said Sofyan.

         "Members of Apindo are producers of food, beverages and textiles," he stated. Kalla told Sofyan that flood victims also need clothes, and Apindo's members will provide that too.

         The PMI has set up a water supply unit in Sunter, with the help of a company based in Bandung, West Java, he said.

         Qatar telecommunication company Qtel Group announced a donation of US$200,000 to help flood victims in Indonesia as part of relief efforts of Qtel Group and its Indonesian operator Indosat.

         The donation following directives of Qtel Group Chairman Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani, will go to a number of agencies providing relief efforts, including the Indonesian government, Red Cross Indonesia, PKPU, and the Dompet Dhuafa Foundation, Qtel Group in Doha, Qatar, said in a press statement on January 21, 2013.

         Qtel Group representative Nicholas Swierzy and Indosat President Director and CEO Alexander Rusli presented the donation to flood victims in the Kapuk Muara neighbourhood in North Jakarta on January 20, 2013.

         In the sprawling Jakarta metropolis, Kapuk Muara is one of the worst-affected areas, as nearly 700 people have been staying in a shelter for the past week.

         On January 23, 2013, 27 urban villages (kelurahans) in Jakarta were still inundated by floodwaters, according to Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) spokesman Bambang Suryaputra.

         "The floodwaters have yet to recede in 27 kelurahans in Jakarta.

    In North Jakarta, four kelurahans remain submerged, while in South Jakarta there are two. Three kelurahans are still inundated in East Jakarta, while West Jakarta has 18 such kelurahans," he said.

         Overall, the floods that had inundated Jakarta since January 15 have subsided. There is no flooding in Central Jakarta at present.

         According to BPBD Jakarta, the total number of people displaced by the Jakarta floods has reached 11,505, comprising 2,674 people in North Jakarta, 1,910 in South Jakarta, 2,894 in East Jakarta, and
4,027 in West Jakarta.

         The data of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), however, showed the total number of refugees has reached 33,502, comprising 729 in South Jakarta, 3,204 in East Jakarta, 24,529 in West Jakarta, and 5,040 in North Jakarta.

         Jakarta's Governor Joko Widodo on January 17 declared the capital city in the state of emergency until January 27, 2013, following floods that killed 20 people so far.

         The five-year-cycle floods have been predicted to hit Jakarta early this year, but some people said that this time was worse than the floods in 2007 that had submerged Jakarta and suburban areas and claimed more than 80 lives.

         Indonesia has been experiencing rainy season  since November 2012. The rainy season is expected to last until March or April 2013. ***4***
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