Ministry Of Home Affairs Records 300 RWs Submerged By Floods In Jakarta From 2018-2022

Residents followed the village road that was flooded by the Ciliwung River runoff in Cawang, East Jakarta, Thursday, February 20, 2020. (ANTARA PHOTO-Aditya Pradana Putra)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) noted that around 200 to 300 Rukun Warga (RW) in DKI Jakarta were affected by flooding in the period 2018-2022.

This was conveyed by the Director General of Regional Autonomy of the Ministry of Home Affairs Akmal Malik in the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) discussing the concept of a draft Law on the Government of the Special Region of Jakarta at the Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta, Tuesday, July 1. "The number of flood-affected areas in the city of Jakarta for the period 2018-2022 tends to be stable in the range of 200-300 RW," said Akmal. Not only that, the number of flood-affected areas also jumped to 1,052 RW in Jakarta. He assessed that flooding in Jakarta has become a chronic problem. "The problem that often appears in DKI Jakarta is a problem of flooding. Sorry, this is an extraordinary category. Floods in Jakarta are chronic problems that dampen roads, houses and infrastructure during the rainy season," he said, confiscated by Antara.

According to him, one of the causes of flooding in Jakarta is high rainfall. In fact, the provincial government has made various efforts to prevent flooding by building various infrastructures, such as embankments to drainage. "However, continued Akmal, the problem of urbanization and climate change remains a common cause. For this reason, he asked for efforts to overcome flooding in Jakarta. "Holistical approaches and community participation are needed to overcome flooding and create a sustainable city," said Akmal.

The government has moved the capital city of Indonesia to Kalimantan Island. This is considering that Jakarta has already borne a heavy burden as the capital city. "So many burdens are owned by Jakarta so that it makes several choices for Jakarta. Moving the capital city from Jakarta to the new capital city is one of the efforts to overcome the problems that Jakarta has faced over the years," he concluded. Previously, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) invited the community to work together regularly to clean waterways to prevent flooding. "The community should start from routinely cleaning waterways in periodic times, so that river flow cleanliness and smoothness can be maintained in order to reduce potential flooding," said Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center Abdul Muhari in his statement in Jakarta, Saturday 29 July. This appeal was conveyed by Abdul in response to flood disasters that hit Palu City, Central Sulawesi, on Friday 21 July at 20.00 WITA. The flood caused 125 families to be affected. Abdul also appealed to local governments (Pemda) to remain alert to flood disasters even though in some areas have entered the dry season, and invited the public to protect the surrounding environment. "Although most of Indonesia is already in the dry season, BNPB still urges local governments to keep the surrounding environment by not throwing garbage into ditches or rivers that can block waterways," he said.