LBH Jakarta Calls Floods And Traffic Jams Jakarta A Form Of Failure Of The City Planning Provincial Government

JAKARTA - Public lawyer for LBH Jakarta, Alif Fauzi Nurwidiastomo, assessed that the floods and congestion that hit Jakarta again at the end of October 2025 reflected the fragility of urban governance and the government's failure to build an urban system that is just and oriented towards humans and the environment.

In recent weeks, these two classic problems have haunt the residents again. The DKI Jakarta Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) noted that 54 RTs were flooded on October 31, 2025, mostly due to the crack in the embankment which caused Krukut River to overflow. The flood was followed by severe congestion at various points in the capital city.

According to Alif, flooding and traffic jams are not only due to high rainfall, but rather a reflection of the weak planning of the city. He alluded to various studies that show that about 40 percent of Jakarta's territory is below sea level and has decreased by 310 centimeters per year, making Jakarta one of the fastest cities to sink in the world.

"Floods and congestion are facts that show the fragility of the City of Jakarta. Every year there is a big flood without a meaningful evaluation," said Alif in his statement, Sunday, November 2.

He also highlighted the issue of citizen mobility. With a population of around 11 million people and the number of motorized vehicles reaching 24 million units, 79 percent of Jakarta residents still depend on private vehicles. This condition, he continued, caused economic losses of up to Rp100 trillion per year due to congestion and air pollution.

LBH Jakarta assesses that repeated floods and congestion have threatened the fulfillment of the basic rights of citizens. According to Alif, these two issues can be categorized as a form of human rights violation because they have a direct impact on the right to residence, health, education, work, and a good and healthy environment.

"Floods can damage people's homes, cut off access to education and work, and cause various diseases. Meanwhile, traffic jams worsen people's mental and physical health due to stress and air pollution," he explained.

He reminded that the government has a legal obligation based on Law Number 24 of 2007 concerning Disaster Management and Law Number 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government to protect the public from the impact of disasters, restore socio-economic conditions, and reduce future disaster risks.

Furthermore, LBH Jakarta assesses that flooding and traffic jams are symptoms of the root of a deeper problem, namely Jakarta's spatial planning that fails to provide ecological justice. Alif assessed that the orientation of development in Jakarta is still centered on concreteization, not conservation.

"The handling of floods is still oriented towards physical development such as walls and embankments, even though what is needed is an alignment between upstream conservation and downstream utilization," he said.

He also highlighted the lack of green open space, excessive groundwater extraction due to limited piping water connections, as well as weak coordination between the central and regional governments. According to him, this exacerbates environmental problems and accelerates land subsidence.

Due to this situation, LBH Jakarta urges the Provincial Government of Jakarta and the DPRD to stop development in the green zone, reduce the rate of land subsidence, expand access to piped water, and fix public transportation systems to make them safer, more comfortable, and affordable.

They also requested that the spatial planning policy involve the community in a participatory manner according to the principles of good governance, and that flood management be carried out with a nature-based approach, not just infrastructure projects.

"The government needs to stop seeing floods and traffic jams as a seasonal phenomenon. This is a structural crisis that requires a comprehensive improvement," concluded Alif.