Floods In Jakarta, Which They Say Have Never Entered The Palace

JAKARTA - Jakarta and its surroundings are hit by another flood. Previously, floods like this had occurred at the beginning of the year.

The rain that flushed since early Tuesday, February 25 this morning flooded the central area, including around the Merdeka Palace.

Head of the Water Resources (SDA) Service, Juaini Yusuf, stated that the floods did not get into the Palace. The flood, he said, only inundated Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta.

"The flood is not inside. Monitoring, (the flood) is only a few centimeters on the front road (Merdeka Palace)," said Juaini when contacted, Tuesday, February 25.

Juaini continued, the flood in front of the building complex where President Joko Widodo worked had receded.

"The area that was inundated had receded around 08.30 WIB," he said.

Juaini explained, the road in front of the Merdeka Palace and Ring 1 or the Medan Merdeka Area, to the HI Roundabout, was also flooded because the Manggarai floodgate was in standby status I. At 06.00 WIB, the water level was in the most emergency condition, reaching 955 cm. In fact, the normal limit is only 750 cm.

"Medan Merdeka is inundated because the Manggarai gate has overflowed," said Juaini.

Juani said this was in response to the Palace's flooded information. This is because there are photos among journalists circulating that say the State Palace is inundated.

Separately, the Head of the Presidential Secretariat showed a video recording to journalists describing the condition of the Merdeka Palace area at 07.00 WIB. There was no deep puddle showing the Wisma Negara Room, the East wing of the Merdeka Palace and the mosque, and the central courtyard of the Merdeka Palace. Only visible remnants of rain still drizzling there.

The rain that has flushed the capital since last night has flooded a number of roads and railways. One of them is the waterlogged railroad crossings in Manggarai and Sudirman.

PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI) was forced to stop some of its services, because the trains could not pass because the tracks were flooded. KCI also engineered the KRL trip to Jakarta Kota only as far as Manggarai Station and Pasar Senen.

"Heavy rains since last night have also resulted in the final stage of work on changing money orders at the Jakarta Kota Station not yet perfect," said VP Corporate Communications, PT KCI Anne Purba.

Anne said that the inundation was observed at a number of crossing points between Kampung Bandan Station - Kemayoran Station, and at Sudirman Station. He also appealed to KRL users to plan their trips considering the floods in a number of these areas.

"We also invite users to always prioritize safety by not jostling when getting on and off the train," he explained.