DKI Floods Today, Anies: It Should Be Well Managed

DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan visits the Manggarai floodgate (DOK. Public Relations of the DKI Pemprov)

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan asked his staff to be able to control the impact of the rain which caused flooding in the capital city today, such as in East Jakarta and South Jakarta.

Regarding several areas that have been inundated due to high rainfall since Sunday, February 7 evening, Anies emphasized that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's target to control the impact of rain must be overcome within a maximum period of six hours after the event.

"If the rainfall is below 100mm, it should be well managed. If it is above 100mm, we are targeting within six hours to be able to overcome the inundation until it recedes", Anies said in his statement, Monday, February 8.

This afternoon, the DKI Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) recorded that 150 Neighborhood Associations (RT) out of 42 nCitizens Associations (RW) were affected by flooding in Jakarta. This data was recorded at 12.00 WIB.

Floods in the South Jakarta area include 4 Districts and 7 Villages, 17 RWs and 38 RTs with a height of 40 to 190 centimeters. The number of refugees was 30 families with a total of 304 people.

For East Jakarta, the flood covers 25 RWs and 112 RTs with a height of 40 to 275 centimeters. There are also 193 families of refugees with a total of 725 people.

"In Jakarta there are 3000 RWs, so when we heard that there were puddles in several areas such as Pejaten and Kampung Melayu, almost all of them were in less than six hours of condition," said Anies.

Anies admitted that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has learned a lot from the inundation case at the beginning of 2020, where when preparing for the rainy season, all levels of the Natural Resouces (SDA) Department have been anticipating it since last year. So, currently the DKI Pemprov is helped in anticipating the situation if things get out of hand, such as high water volume due to intensive rainfall.

"What we have been doing for a long time is dredging reservoirs in Jakarta since last year. Then cleaning up the sedimentation in the canals has been done in an extraordinary way. Then, building vertical wells for drainage ensures all water pumps are functioning properly", said Anies.

"Then the fifth is controlling the sluice gates, so all the preparations were done last year. This is so that when the rainy season comes, we will be in an alert and responsive position", he continued.