JAKARTANS ASKED TO REMAIN ON THE ALERT AS FLOODS SPREAD

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 16 (ANTARA) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has urged Jakartans to remain on the alert, as the floods that hit Jakarta over the past two days and caused the evacuation of at least 9,374 residents in various parts of the capital city, have not yet receded.          "Heavy downpours in Puncak on Wednesday morning and noon drastically raised the water volume and level of the Ciliwung river upstream. At 11 am, the water level of the Katulampa sluice reached 70 cm (level III alert) but at 12 am, it increased to 170 cm, due to which the alert status  was raised to level II," the BNPB's Head of Data and Information, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said here on Wednesday.          He urged Jakarta residents to remain on the alert because the flood waters were unlikely to recede anytime soon. Besides, Nugroho added, the situation could get worse as there was heavy rainfall in the upstream areas of Bogor and Puncak and more flood waters could hit Jakarta on Wednesday night.          The water level at the Katulampa sluice had reached 180 cm at 2 pm, due to which the alert status was raised to level II. Later, at 3 pm, the alert status was lowered as the water level dropped to 150 cm. The water level at the Katulampa sluice will have an impact on the flooding situation in Jakarta, particularly in areas along the Ciliwung river.      Meanwhile, the water level at the Depok sluice reached 280 cm (alert II status) and the water level at the Manggarai sluice touched 920 cm at 3 pm (alert II status). At one point, it almost reached 950 cm (alert I status).          "Given such conditions, it could be ascertained that the flood waters will not recede; instead, there may be more flooding in various parts of the city," Sutopo pointed out.          He noted that the upstream flood waters might take 6-7 hours to arrive in Jakarta. It was expected that the flood waters from Bogor would arrive in Jakarta at about 9-10 pm.          If that happens, the water volume of Ciliwuing river will increase in the downstream areas. The water level in another river in Karet area has reached 660 cm (level I alert status).     There are least 13 rivers flowing from mountainous areas of Puncak and Bogor in the south of Jakarta. They criss-cross the capital city before emptying into the sea in the north.          "Jakarta residents, therefore, have been urged to remain alert. The Jakarta Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD DKI), the Ministry of Public Works, the Social Affairs Ministry, the Ministry of Health, the National Defence Forces and National Police have been working together to provide emergency assistance to the flood victims," Sutopo said.          The BNPB has set up a National Command Post for handling the flooding in and around Jakarta.          The Jakarta Regional Police also deployed personnel to assist in the evacuation of flood victims. "We have deployed one platoon of personnel from the resort police and three platoons from the Jakarta regional police," Public Relations Head of the Jakarta Police, Snr Comr Rikwanto, said.          Apart from assisting in the evacuation process, the police will also guard the vacant houses of the residents. The Jakarta police have also set up a task force for handling floods.         Besides, the Jakarta Traffic Police Corps deployed six companies of personnel to help manage traffic flow at road junctions affected by the floods.  "We will divert the flow of traffic if the roads get congested," said Adjunct Snr Comr Wahyono, the deputy director of the Traffic Police of the Jakarta Police.          As of Wednesday, at least 9,374 residents have been moved to safer places and emergency shelters due to the flooding in various parts of Jakarta.          "The emergency tent accommodating the largest number of evacuees is located in the Rawa Buaya area, at KM 14 of Jalan Daan Mogot, West Jakarta," said Tasman, a BPBD officer, here on Wednesday.          He stated that his agency had set up at least 14 evacuation centers, which would serve as emergency shelters for the flood victims. "As many as 9,374 evacuees have been sent to emergency centers in various parts of Jakarta during the early hours of Wednesday," Tasman noted.          Nearly 20,275 homes have been inundated so far. Most of the 9, 374 flood evacuees are from Kampung Melayu.          "The evacuees have been sheltered at Hermina Hospital, East Jakarta Sports Stadium, Attawabin Mosque, Awabin Mosque, the hall of East Jakarta health sub-service and the hall of Ihttihadul Ikhwan Mosque," Tasman said.          In East Jakarta alone, the number of evacuees reached 4,311, including 2,257 from Kampung Melayu, 949 from Bidara Cina, 500 from Kramatjati and 605 from Cililitan.          The floods also forced 2,127 residents in South Jakarta to move to higher grounds. Of the flood evacuees, 1,151 were from Bukit Duri, 48 from Pondok Pinang, 150 from Ulujami, 65 from Pondok Labu, 567 from Tanjung Barat and 86 from Lenteng Agung.          "Up to now, aid in the form of medicines, food, blankets and paramedics has been provided to the flood victims," the BPBD official said.          As of now, 50 areas in Jakarta have been inundated, with the average height of flood waters being between 30 cm and 300 cm.          Initially, some residents refused to be evacuated but later gave up after their houses were submerged. In Kampung Polu, East Jakarta, some houses have been submerged, with only their roofs visible.          Public Order Police Force (Satpol PP) and the Search and Rescue Team (SAR) have been working together to evacuate the victims.          Head of the Satpol PP for East Jakarta, Syahdonan, said his team had previously urged the flood-hit residents to move out but some refused to leave their homes saying they wanted to guard their belongings.          "Basically, the Satpol PP will be stationed here to provide help anytime when needed for the sake of residents' security," Syahdonan said.          Meanwhile, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for Jakarta office urged the Jakarta regional government to step up efforts to minimize the impact of the floods on major transportation routes.          "We will also certainly suffer from losses as a result of the flooding, particularly with regard to transportation. It can be well imagined how much losses we are going to suffer due to the logistical problems we are facing due to the floods," Deputy Chairman of Kadin for Jakarta office Sarman Simanjorang said.***4*** (T.A014/INE/H-YH) (T.A014/A/KR-BSR/A/H-YH) 16-01-2013 20:53: