Indonesia - Jakarta: Floodings,, 5 death, 100 000 homeless

Flood victims badly need food, clean water

JAKARTA (JP): Poor emergency transportation vehicles have restricted food distribution to a number of flood hit areas in Jakarta.

Elshinta radio station reported that at least flood victims in Bintaro, Ciledug, Kelapa Gading were still waiting for food aid from authorities, but poor transportation vehicles had given difficulty for the search and rescue (SAR) team to reach them.

Flood victims also badly needed clean water for their daily usage as tap water was cut off in the flood affected areas.

Some people had to flee their flooded houses to their relatives houses or offices only to take bath.(***)

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Five killed in Jakarta floods

JAKARTA (Antara): Floods that hit Jakarta following two days of torrential rains have claimed five lives and forced the evacuation of thousands of people to safer grounds, a spokesman said.

Three of the deaths were found in Jakarta and two in Bekasi, spokesman of the National Coordination Board (Bakornas)'s command post, Sunardi said on Saturday.

The floods hit 56 subdistricts, consisting of 33 in Jakarta, 16 in Bekasi and seven in Tangerang.

Until Friday night, a total of 106,095 people fled their homes to safer grounds, he said.

The floods inundated tens of thousands of houses, not to mention office buildings, school buildings, hospitals and places of worship.

"We have yet to count offices, school buildings and hospitals inundated by the floods because we are still focusing on evacuating flood victims," he said.

The area of places inundated by flood was so vast that many flood victims had not yet been evacuated, he said. (***)

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Newd recieved from Tha Jarkarta Post Febr 02, 2007

Worsened floods that have paralysed much of the Indonesian capital killed at least 20 people and displaced more than 340,000 residents after several days of incessant rain, officials and local media reports said Sunday.

"Highest alert" was declared by Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso after heavy rains in the upper areas around the city of Bogor caused more rivers to burst their banks across the capital, sending muddy water up to three metres deep into more residential and commercial areas in the densely-packed city.

The state-run Antara news agency reported the flood water had reached close to the presidential palace and business centres in downtown Jakarta. Weather forecasters warned that torrential rains would continue in the nine million-population Indonesian capital and nearby areas for several days.

Television footage showed floodwaters reaching rooftops, in both slum areas and upmarket housing estates. Business activity has remained at a standstill for the last three days as the floodwaters prevented transit.

At least 20 people have been reported dead since the floods inundated the capital and surrounding areas on Thursday. Tens of thousands of victims who fled their houses have been desperate for food, clothes, and accommodation. Many were still trapped in their houses, desperate to be evacuated.

Officials feared that the death toll and numbers of displaced would rise amid the escalating flooding which has so far inundated around 70 per cent of the city. "The dead victims were from cold, having been electrocuted or drowned," Anna told Antara news agency.

An official at the national coordinating flood agency's post command told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa earlier that the floods had hit 35 of 44 sub-districts in Jakarta and 48 sub-districts in Tangerang and Bekasi, and had left over 340,000 homeless.

In West Java's Bogor district, about 60-kilometres south of Jakarta, a landslide buried alive two people while heavy rains hampered rescue workers, the Jakarta-based Elshinta private radio said.

Residents claimed that this year's flooding was worse than that of 2002 which left 21 dead and forced more than 300,000 people to flee their homes.

Environment Minister Rachmat Witular blamed the floods on excessive development in the city's water-catchment areas.

"Many ignore the (city) spatial plan, especially the authorities that hand out permits, even though they clearly violate environmental impact analyses," The Jakarta Post quoted Witular as saying. "There are too many shopping centres in the capital."

Governor Sutiyoso blamed massive development of luxurious villas and residential complexes in Bogor and Puncak, accusing the local government administration of sacrificing water-catchment areas for economic reasons.

"The floods in Jakarta are partly due to environmental damage in Bogor," Sutiyoso said. "The Puncak area is a water catchment but there are now many villas there, causing the downpour to run straight into the river."

The floods have caused major power blackouts, disrupted internet access and downed countless telephone lines in some parts of Jakarta.

Rescue workers joined volunteers as residents continued evacuation efforts from numerous housing complexes in Jakarta and nearby districts including Tanggerang, Depok and Bekasi.

Many residents insisted on staying to take care of their houses and belongings, although the water level kept rising and the current was strong from a nearby river that had topped its banks.

Dozens of people including children were seen still stranded on the upper floors of their houses.

Jakarta city police deployed 12,660 personnel, while military authorities deployed around 1,300 army troops and 429 navy personnel have been deployed across the capital to help evacuate people, using boats, trucks and other vehicles.

Local television showed hundreds of residents of a luxury housing complex in the Kelapa Gading area in North Jakarta calling for help after being stranded for two days on the second floors of their houses.

Evacuees have packed schools, churches and mosques across Jakarta. In central Jakarta suburb of Petamburan, one of the worst-hit area, dozens of residents complained of received no aid from government since their fled their home on Friday.

"No food aid arrived here at all," Helmi, one of the fleeing resident told an Indonesian daily Kompas newspaper.

The capital city is vulnerable to flooding even when there is little rain because many areas of the city are near or below sea level, and the drainage system is poor.

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Soorce: dpa