AirAsia Jet Tail Found: Basarnas Chief

Jakarta Globe,  Jan 07, 2015

An undated handout picture released by the Indonesian Search And Rescue
Agency (BASARNAS) on Jan. 7, 2014 shows a part of the crashed AirAsia Flight
 QZ 8501 laying on the sea floor, off Pangkalan Bun, Central Borneo, Indonesia.
Rescue teams found the tail of the AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea
 with 162 people on board on Dec. 28, 2014, the search and rescue chief Bambang
Sulistyo confirmed on Jan. 7. (EPA Photo/BASARNAS)

Jakarta. Indonesia’s Search and Rescue Agency, or Basarnas, on Wednesday announced they had recovered the tail from the wreck of AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

“We have a picture of the part and we can confirm that it’s the tail,” Bambang Soelistyo, chief of the Basarnas, told reporters at a press conference in Jakarta.

Soelistyo said the picture — taken by one of the recovery divers — showed the piece on the seabed with “AX” and “Air” visible on the side, which confirmed it was part of the Indonesia AirAsia plane. The piece of the wreckage was about 10 meters in length, five meters in width and three meters high, according to a report from Detik.com quoting Bambang.

The tail is the section where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes has tweeted:

I am led to believe the tail section has been found. If right part of tail section then the black box should be there.
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) January 7, 2015

The A320-200 crashed into the Java Sea on Dec. 28 en route from Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board. As of Wednesday morning, the total number of bodies recovered was 40.

On Monday Reuters reported a captain of an Indonesian Navy patrol vessel claimed to have found the tail of the Indonesia AirAsia plane, but there was no confirmation.

Indonesia’s meteorological agency, or BMKG, has suggested bad weather may have at least partly caused the A320-200 to crash. Tropical storms are frequent near the equator during the current wet season.

“The most probable weather phenomenon was icing which can cause engine damage due to a cooling process. This is just one of the possibilities that occurred based on the analysis of existing meteorological data,” a BMKG report, released last week, said.

Ice May Have Caused AirAsia Crash: BMKG

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Jan 04, 2015

Indonesia's meteorological agency has suggested the weather at the time
 Flight QZ8501went down sparked the disaster after it appeared to fly into
storm clouds. (AFP Photo)

Pangkalan Bun. Weather was the “triggering factor” in the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 with icing likely causing engine damage, Indonesia’s meteorological agency said, as divers found another body Sunday during a momentary respite from bad weather that has hampered rescue efforts.

The Airbus A320-200 crashed into the Java Sea a week ago carrying 162 people from Indonesia’s second city Surabaya to Singapore, and relief workers are hunting for the “black box” flight data recorders to determine the cause of the crash.

An initial report on the website of BMKG, Indonesia’s meteorological agency, suggested the weather at the time the plane went down sparked the disaster after it appeared to fly into storm clouds.

“Based on the available data received on the location of the aircraft’s last contact, the weather was the triggering factor behind the accident,” said the report.

“The most probable weather phenomenon was icing which can cause engine damage due to a cooling process. This is just one of the possibilities that occurred based on the analysis of existing meteorological data.”

Five major parts of the Airbus A320-200 have now been found off Kalimantan, but rough weather throughout the week has hampered the relief process, a huge operation assisted by several countries including the United States and Russia.

As the weather cleared, a team of divers went down to the biggest part of the wreckage on Sunday morning and recovered one body, bringing to 31 the number of victims found, but bad conditions forced them to surface again.

“They managed to go down but the visibility at the sea bottom was zero, it was dark and the seabed was muddy, with currents of three to five knots,” search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters, adding that heavy rain and big waves were continuing to hamper the rescue effort.

“For that reason, the diving efforts must be temporarily stopped. We’ll try to deploy an ROV [remotely-operated underwater vehicle],” he said.

He said the fifth major part of the plane, located early on Sunday, was about 10 meters by one meter.

The search, focused on a patch of sea southwest of Pangkalan Bun, a town on Kalimantan, has also been extended east because parts of the plane may have been swept by currents, Bamabang said.

The relief operation has prioritized finding the bodies of those on board the ill-fated flight, of whom 155 were Indonesian, with three South Koreans, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one Briton and a Frenchman — co-pilot Remi Plesel.

Indonesian pilot Setiawan, who is part of the aerial recovery effort combing the search area from above, told local television channel MetroTV that he had seen another three bodies floating in the sea early Sunday.

AirAsia investigated

Indonesia has pledged to investigate flight violations by AirAsia, saying the ill-fated aircraft had been flying on an unauthorised schedule when it crashed. The airline has now been suspended from flying the Surabaya–Singapore route.

But the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said it had granted permission for the airline’s Sunday flight.

It was unclear how the airline, a unit of Malaysia-based AirAsia, had been able to fly without the necessary authorization from its starting point.

The company has declined to comment until the probe is complete, but said it would “fully cooperate” with the government.

Before take-off, the pilot of Flight 8501 had asked for permission to fly at a higher altitude to avoid the storm, but the request was not approved due to other planes above him on the popular route, according to AirNav, Indonesia’s air traffic control.

In his last communication, Captain Iriyanto, an experienced former air force pilot, said he wanted to change course to avoid the menacing storm system. Then all contact was lost, about 40 minutes after the plane had taken off.

The families of victims have been preparing funerals as the bodies recovered are identified in Surabaya, where a crisis center has been set up at a police hospital with facilities to store 150 bodies.

About 100 grieving Catholic relatives and well–wishers, some of them in tears, crowded into a small church in the police headquarters for a memorial mass Saturday afternoon, singing hymns and praying for the victims to be found quickly.

“We are trying to cope as hard as we can but it is still a very difficult time for our family as we are still waiting for news,” said 25-year-old Sebastian Joseph Widodo, whose sister Florentina was on the plane.

“My faith is very central, especially at this time where there’s nothing much we can do,” he added.

Agence France-Presse

AirAsia Disappearance Revives Specter of Indonesian Aviation Safety Woes

The country’s poor reputation for aviation safety goes back several years

Jakarta Globe, Tabita Diela, Dec 30, 2014

AirAsia passengers line up to check in at the budget airline’s counter at
Singapore’s Changi airport on Dec. 29, 2014. (EPA Photo/Francis R. Malasig)

Jakarta. The disappearance on Sunday of an Indonesian passenger jet with 162 people on board has put the country’s aviation safety record back in the public glare, even as the industry insists that standards have improved.

The Indonesia AirAsia plane dropped off the radar over the Java Sea en route from Surabaya to Singapore at 6:18 a.m. on Sunday, carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members.

Malaysia-based AirAsia and its regional subsidiaries, including the Indonesian unit in which it holds a 49 percent stake, has never faced a major incident like this since it began operations in 1996.

“The incident is unexpected, considering that AirAsia’s reputation as a low-cost carrier is perfect,” Arista Atmadjati, an aviation analyst and lecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

“They mostly are on time, have new planes, and are known to have a good track in terms of engine maintenance schedule. This is really bad luck for AirAsia.”

Indonesia AirAsia had until Sunday managed to avoid the safety incidents that routinely dogged other low-cost carriers in Indonesia — in particular Lion Air — which have pursued breakneck expansion, often at the expense of safety and maintenance standards.

The last major incident before Sunday’s disappearance of Flight QZ8501 was the crash-landing of a Lion Air flight in the sea just before the runway at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport as it was coming in to land in April 2013. All 108 passengers on board survived, and none were seriously injured. It was Lion Air’s seventh accident since 2002.

The most recent deadly incident involving a large jet occurred in May 2012 when a Russian-made Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed into the side of a mountain in West Java during a promotional flight, killing all 45 people on board. Voice recordings recovered from the wreckage suggested the pilot was chatting with a potential buyer in the cockpit prior to the crash.

The country’s poor reputation for aviation safety goes back several years. In September 2005, a flight from now-defunct Mandala Airlines killed 149 people after the plane that took off from an airport in Medan, North Sumatra, crashed into a densely populated residential area. It claimed the lives of 100 people on board and 49 on the ground.

The local aviation safety record hit a nadir in 2007 when the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration downgraded Indonesia’s safety rating following a series of high-profile incidents — notably the disappearance of Adam Air Flight DHI574, which crashed into the Makassar Strait on Jan. 1, 2007, killing all 102 people on board.

That same year, the European Union banned all Indonesian airlines from flying in European airspace in light of the incidents. The ban was only partially lifted in 2009.

But the days of poor safety records is a thing of the past, says the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association, or INACA.

“Nowadays the safety aspects of all Indonesian airlines is much better than in previous years,” INACA chairman Arif Wibowo, who is also the newly appointed president director of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, said on Monday.

Arif, who previously headed Citilink, Garuda’s low-cost subsidiary, said that all airlines were subjected to stringent systems audits to ensure their compliance with safety standards before they could get a an air operation certificate, required to operate commercial flights.

President Joko Widodo said on Monday that he had asked Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan to perform a thorough evaluation of aviation safety procedures in Indonesia.

“I have ordered the transportation minister to recheck all procedures for all flights to maximize” prevention of such incidents in future, Jokowi said at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

He also said he had ordered the meteorological agency, or BMKG, to do more to assist airlines in anticipating patches of bad weather — something that Flight QZ8501 had requested permissions from air traffic control to fly over before contact was lost.

The president said he had asked authorities to cooperate with their counterparts from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Britain, who have all offered technical assistance in the continuing search for the missing plane, believed to have fallen in the Java Sea.

Ignasius said the government would perform a review of Indonesia AirAsia’s business and operation, especially with regard to safety standard compliance.

“In the near term, we will review the operations and the business of [Indonesia] AirAsia to ensure a better future performance, especially from the safety aspect,” he said

He previously said one of his missions in the Transportation Ministry was to improve Indonesia’s aviation safety image in the eyes of the international community.

With additional reporting by Laila Ramdhini & Hari Gunarto

Further Coverage

Editorial: Human Ingenuity Tested by Tragedy

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Extreme Weather Causes Havoc in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe, March 16, 2011

The damaged Senayan City mall. Extreme weather in the capital on
Wednesday saw hail falling from the sky, trees uprooted, widespread
surface flooding and damage to the exclusive Senayan City in South
Jakarta. (Photo Amanda Valani)

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Extreme weather in the capital on Wednesday saw hail falling from the sky, trees uprooted, widespread surface flooding and damage to the exclusive Senayan City in South Jakarta.

Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) forcaster Bunga confirmed that hail had fallen in the Senayan and Thamrin areas in the central capital.

Bunga said hail would fall on rare occasions in Jakarta during the transition between the wet and dry seasons.

“It is also triggered by extreme weather like we are experiencing now,” she said.

Trees had also blown over throughout the capital, including at the Al Azhar Islamic School, Bunga said.

Miraculously, there no injuries when a tree was flown over at National Police headquarters, damaging 14 cars at 3 p.m.

Heavy winds also caused panels from the outside of Senayan City mall to peel away from the building. The ceiling to the Brewhouse cafe on the ground floor also collapsed. There were a number of shocked customers but no injuries.

Afdita Sari, a public relations consultant, said the hailstorm caused damage to buildings in the Senopati area in South Jakarta.

She said the thumb-sized hail broke windows in her office building at 3 p.m.

“My colleagues and I rushed out the building because of the clanking on the roof,” she said. “We saw ice pellets falling from the sky and the hailstorm lasted for about 15 minutes.”

Afdita said the hailstorm was followed by strong winds that lasted for 10 minutes.

“It was the first hail I’ve seen — very scary.”

She said a stall selling cigarettes in front of her building was damaged when a tree was blown over on top of it.

Bunga said the bad weather would continue tonight.

The Traffic Management Center said traffic from the Jalan Sudirman traffic circle to Senayan was at a standstill.

“Take the TransJakarta bus if you must,” the center said on its Web site.

The traffic is expected to be heavy this evening.

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‘Super-Extreme’ Weather Is the Worst on Record

Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, August 19, 2010

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Jakarta. Indonesia has been experiencing its most extreme weather conditions in recorded history, meteorologists warned on Wednesday as torrential rains continued topound the capital.

Motorbikes splash through deep puddles of water
after heavy rains lashed the Semanggi area
of Jakarta on Wednesday. JG Photo/Safir Makki

All regions across the archipelago have been experiencing abnormal and often catastrophic weather, an official from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said.

“We have reached a super-extreme level of weather this year, the first time in our history, and this is much worse than what we experienced back in 1998, when theLa Nina caused extreme weather in the country,” Edvin Aldrian warned.

Edvin, who leads the climate change and air quality division at the agency, told theJakarta Globe that a combination of a heating planet and the La Nina climate cycle were behind the unseasonable downpours.

“The combination of global warming and the La Nina phenomenon makes everything exceed normalcy,” he said, adding that global warming causes higher temperature in sea waters, and La Nina boosts humidity and the likeliness of rains.

Sea temperatures, Edvin said, were also at a level considered normal for Indonesia’s rainy season, not for the dry season. “It is about 28 to 29[degrees] Celsius now. Normally, for August it should have been around 24 to 26 degrees.”

Generally at this time of year, Indonesia is supposed to be in the midst of the dry season and entering the transition to wetter months.

“Inconditions like this, tornadoes are likely to occur,” Edvin warned.

“It canhappen in any region in the country, starting from the western part ofIndonesia to the east.”

He also said the extreme conditions were causing high waves, posing a threat to ships in Indonesian waters. “At the least, the waves will reach 3.5 meters and can reach up to more than five meters. And strong winds can make the waves even higher.

“The Southern part of Sumatra and Java are the most affected areas so far,” he said.“This condition is forecast to start to reach the eastern part of Indonesia within one to two weeks.”

Based on a BMKG forecast, the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, West Java,West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Maluku,

West Papua and Papua would see prolonged high rains, with more than 400 millimeters falling from now through October. More than 100 mm of rain is categorized ashigh intensity.

The rest of the country is expected to begin entering the rainy season again inNovember.

The extreme weather has already affected the country’s agricultural output, especially in Java where there are many farms, said Winny Dian Wibawa, theAgriculture Ministry’s director for horticulture.

“Crops like melon, mango and mushrooms are experiencing delayed harvests.

“It puts the farmers at a disadvantage as they now cannot produce many good quality crops,” he said, adding that the excess rains made fruit softer and less sweet.

Izzul Waro, an analyst from the Transportation Study Institute (Instran), told the Globe that the extreme weather would also cause headaches for commuters and truckers, especially in big cities like Jakarta.

“The conditions become worse because the drainage system in the city’s roads is bad. Puddles of water will occur with just a bit of rain,” he said, adding that traffic would only worsen during the extended rainy season.

The capital has seen heavy downpours in the past two days, causing deep inundations and burst river banks. On Tuesday, at least five neighborhoods in South Jakarta reported flooding.

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SBY warns travelers about extreme weather threat

AdiantoP. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 08/11/2010 9:59 AM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has told travelers and transportation operators to bewary of extreme weather, as millions are expected to return to their hometownsfor the Idul Fitri holiday next month.

During a Cabinet meeting at the State Secretariat on Tuesday, Yudhoyono ordered theTransportation Ministry and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency(BMKG) to take measures to prevent transportation accidents caused by poorweather conditions.

“Extreme weather changes have already hit Indonesia,” he said.

“The weather is currently unfriendly; we need to remind people to be careful.”

Idul Fitri falls on Sept. 10 and 11 this year.

Millions of people from big cities across the country will return to their hometowns ina nationwide phenomenon called mudik, to celebrate Idul Fitri with theirrelatives.

The most popular transportation modes include airplane, ferry, bus, train, private carand motorcycle.

Yudhoyono said the BMKG needed to share weather forecasts with local governments and seaand land transportation operators.

“Don’t underestimate [the importance of weather forecasts],” he said.

The President mentioned the severe weather conditions currently plaguing severalother countries at the moment, including forest fires in Russia, landslides inChina and floods in Pakistan and India.

The BMKG posts daily weather forecasts and information about tidal activity on itswebsite.

The BMKG earlier forecast that this year’s dry season would arrive in Sumatra, Java,Bali, Sulawesi and Maluku sometime from May to June.

The forecast was then revised to July due to unexpected rises in sea temperaturesthat caused massive evaporation and heavy rains.

The agency said the La Nina weather phenomena would also cause extreme weather inIndonesia.

Last March,the BMKG issued an annual weather forecast stating that the dry season wouldfall in June at the latest.

However, rains continue to sweep several big cities in the country, including Jakarta.

Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said he had sent letters to governors, regents andmayors telling them to take action to prevent transportation accidents.

“All air, land and sea transportation operators must halt operations if the BMKGissues a serious weather warning,” he said.

Experts have said extreme weather conditions could increase in intensity due to climatechange caused by global warming.

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Jakarta to revamp Manggarai sluice gates

Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/27/2009 1:27 PM  

The city administration plans to build one more gate at South Jakarta's Manggarai sluice gates to regulate the water flow better. 

"The new gate would be installed next to the existing ones, requiring the government to acquire some land plots," Pitoyo Subandrio, head of the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Bureau at the Public Works Ministry, said on Saturday. 

"The new gate will reduce flooding because the water will run more smoothly than before." 

Pitoyo said the space for the gates, which were built in the 1920s by the Dutch government, would be widened by a dozen meters. 

The width of a gate is about six meters, excluding the pillars. 

Included in the Manggarai revamp is the clearing of the areas along the Ciliwung River, from the Casablanca bridge to the Manggarai sluice gate. 

Flood management expert Jan Jaap Brinkman from the Netherlands Water Research Institute (Deltares) confirmed the urgency of an additional gate in Manggarai. 

"The Manggarai gates need to be improved because they are too small. At this moment it is two gates, but it needs to be three gates," Brinkman, who is also the team leader of Flood Hazarding Mapping 2 at the Public Works Ministry, said. 

Brinkman was speaking after the signing of an agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the fields of meteorology, water management, climate change and early warning systems. 

The administration is currently running flood mitigation projects in anticipation of the rainy season. 

It is now dredging 12 waterways across the city, including in Pademangan River and Mati canal (in North Jakarta), Cakung River (East Jakarta) and Grogol in West Jakarta. 

The Rp 23 billion (US$2.04 million) project is set to dredge 243,322 cubic meters of garbage out of the canals. The canals range from 467 meters to 3,533 meters long. 

The administration is also working on the East Flood Canal project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The canal will be the primary flood control mechanism for East and North Jakarta. 

The 23.5-kilometer East Flood Canal will stretch across 11 subdistricts in East Jakarta and two subdistricts in North Jakarta. 

PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol Tbk, developer of the Ancol recreational area, is building another five submersible water pumps at its site in anticipation of floods in February. 

"We are building three new water pumps in West Ancol and two more in East Ancol to add to the existing 62 pumps; we hope they will be finished by February," Nurvita Sari, the developer's manager of property maintenance, said. 

The new and existing pumps, each able to pump 30 cubic meters of water per minute, will drain water from households in Ancol to the Ancol River. 

"After the water reaches Ancol River, it's the city's public works agency's responsibility to channel the water to Pluit and Sunter dams," she said. 

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said that in February the sea level would rise 1.2 meters above normal levels due to a high tide, with the possibility of heavy downpours. 

YJ Harwanto, the developer's general manager of its corporate plan, said they were also raising the wave breakers, adding night shifts to watch over the water level and setting up an information board about the sea level. (fmb)

Manokwari airport closed after quakes

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 01/04/2009 10:39 AM  

Authorities in Rendani Airport, Manokwari, West Papua has stopped activities in the airport following series of powerful earthquakes that hit the city earlier on Sunday, Kompas.com reported. 

The authorities and airlines operating in the airport agreed to stop every activity on security and safety concerns. 

An Express Air airlines flight heading for Manokwari from Jayapura, Papua, was forced to fly back following the decision. 

A series of powerful earthquakes hit at dawn, cutting power lines, badly damaging buildings and  killing at least three people in the area. 

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:43 a.m. local time about 135 kilometers from Manokwari at a depth of 35 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Agency said. The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency recorded that the quake was followed by eight others, with decreasing shocks. 

Manokwari Police chief Adj. Snr. Comr. Pit Wahyudi said that the police were working to evacuate two people buried under debris of Mutiara Hotel. Two hotels collapsed and hundreds of houses damaged after the quake, he said. 

A number of city residents has been evacuated to the local military command headquarters. There are approximately 70,000 people living in Manokwari. (dre)

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11 Jakarta districts may be flooded in January: BMG warns

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 11/10/2008 1:28 PM  

The government's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) has warned that torrential rains will hit Jakarta in January and February next year, potentially flooding 11 districts in three municipalities around the capital. 

Endro Santoso, head of BMG's climatology and air quality information division, on Monday said heavy rains of up to 100 millimeters per day could occur during those months. 

"Some 11 districts are prone to heavy flooding during these months," he said as quoted by Antara news agency. 

These districts are Cengkareng, Grogol, Petamburan and Kalideres in West Jakarta; Kebayoran Baru, Mampang Prapatan and Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta; and Cipayung, Ciracas, Kramatjati and Makasar in East Jakarta. 

Endro said the heavy rains would begin in Jakarta in December. He also said there were possibilities of the city facing strong winds prior to the storms. 

The rainy season is expected to end in February next year in northern Jakarta and in May in the southern parts of the city. (dre)

Tsunami early warning system to be tested

Denpasar, (ANTARA News) - The government will test a Tsunami early warning system on November 11, 2008 covering all of Indonesia at 4 pm West Indonesia Standard Time. Bali has six tsunami early sirens to be tested. 

"We urge everybody on November 11 not to panic when the siren goes of, its only a drill," spokesman for the Denpasar Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) Sutrisno said here Wednesday. 

He also said that the sirens will be set off for one minute.The Bali six early warning systems cover Nusa Dua, Seminyak, Kuta, Kedonganan, Tanjung Benoa and Sanur.

Let's manage garbage to combat flooding

Enri Damanhuri, Bandung, The Jakarta Post

A major flood threatens Jakarta. At least that is what was implied by the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), which predicted that a high tide of up to 2.2 meters will affect northern Jakarta within the next few weeks, with the worst affected areas expected to be Penjaringan and Pluit. High levels of precipitation could also cause floods of up to half a meter deep in Cawang, Cakung, Jatinegara, Pancoran and Rawa Jati (Kompas, Dec. 5).

This is concerning, at least for us Jakartans and other residents of coastal areas. One problem that has not yet been solved is how to manage our garbage to avoid flooding. Now we have to add high tides to the list of threats.

The easiest answer to the question as to what causes the floods nowadays is the dramatic impact of global warming affecting all parts of the world. The floods are caused by bad weather and storms, and the melting ice is affecting the flow of water, leading to deluges.

However, we may have forgotten another reason that needs to be addressed: the intensive coastal reclamation work in North Jakarta was one of the cause of the floods from Ancol to Kapuk Naga at the end of November.

We may wonder about the floods in the U.S. or UK due to Hurricane Katrina or the heavy rains that caused the big rivers of Europe to overflow. Countries that are well-developed in terms of surface water management, through well-prepared drainage systems, pumps and control dams, in addition to proper waste management, where it is rare to find garbage plugging up the system, still have to deal with the problem.

Surely the rising waters will wreak havoc in developing countries, that are still only introducing such technology, as in Indonesia.

Floods do not just transport water. They contain bacteria, germs and domestic waste. It's no secret that the floodwaters also contain dangerous substances, such as hazardous chemical waste.

We face many problems in handling floods in Jakarta: from preventing the floods and reducing their impacts, to appraising and repairing the damage after the floods so as to prevent them from happening again.

There needs to be legal consequences for those who cause losses and causalities, whether intentionally or otherwise. The Environmental Management Law (No. 23/1997), which makes pollution a criminal offense, needs to be used as a point of reference by the authorities so as to discourage those who do not respect the environment and contribute to its destruction by either purposely mismanaging or carelessly managing waste.

When faced with flooding, people are normally most concerned about saving themselves and their material and productive assets. But what about the dangerous waste that can pollute the water and leech into the ground? This is especially worrying given the number of both large and small industries located in north Jakarta.

There needs to be strict law enforcement by the environmental authorities and related institutions to control how industrial waste is managed so as to avoid people falling sick or dying because they come into contact with dangerous chemicals during the floods.

The stakeholders, all of us, need to take a stand to reduce the impact of improper waste management, and the international forum on climate change in Bali is the perfect opportunity for Indonesia to take action and think about how improper waste management, domestic and industrial, has contributed to polluting our environment.

In order to affect a change in mentality and behavior among the Indonesian people, routine and ongoing socialization of good environmental practices and strict law enforcement of environmental regulations are necessary. The government, as one of the main stakeholders, needs to fulfill its role as the main agent of change by widely distributing information to the public and corporations about the importance of proper waste management, especially for industry-generated hazardous waste.

Let us not forget that waste management, especially urban waste that consists mainly of organic carbon substances, is a significant contributor to greenhouse emissions, especially since waste management systems in Indonesian landfills (TPAs) create methane gases that are improperly managed.

It is commonly known that the greenhouse effect of methane gas is 21 times worse than that of CO2. Of course, this does not mean that we have to blindly apply the values or emission factors provided by experts from developed countries. It requires systematic mapping to explain how proper waste management can serve as one of the important contributors to the effort to reduce greenhouse emissions in Indonesia.

From a management aspect, a program to reduce greenhouse emissions needs to start with the basics; the implementation of the 3-Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). This program can be socialized among garbage and industrial waste generators through discussion panels to formulate rules of conduct involving all relevant parties.

At least there will be a symbiosis of mutualism; both horizontally and vertically. More importantly, municipalities and industry players need to start managing their waste properly. When they realize that the hazardous waste generated by companies in their areas requires professional handling, according to the environmental rules and regulations, they will come to realize that they need to delegate this task to professional companies that specialize in industrial waste management.

As waste management is their core business, they will have the facilities and capabilities needed to ensure that the waste will be properly managed and will not damage the environment. To quote the old saying, "We should leave it to the experts." It's still not too late for this.

The writer is a professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). He can be reached at e_damanhuri@ftsl.itb.c.id

Yogyakarta two degrees warmer, official says

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The climate in Yogyakarta city has gradually increased over the past two years due to global warming, a government agency says.

Previously, the temperature in the city ranged between 33 and 34 degrees Celsius, but now swings between 35 and 37.8 degrees.

"The temperature rise in Yogyakarta is a current global phenomenon also happening elsewhere as the result of global warming," said Yogyakarta Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG) Data and Information Division head Tyar Prasetya.

Prasetya added his office had detected a gradual rise in temperatures in the city over the past two years. The city recorded temperatures of between 33 to 34 degrees Celsius previously, but in November 2006 the highest temperature reached 37.8 degrees Celsius and in December of the same year it stood at 35.2 degrees Celsius.

He said the BMG recorded temperatures of 35.2 degrees Celsius in February and 35 degrees in October this year.

Prasetya said every party must pay special attention to reduce global warming so as to alleviate its negative impacts.

A number of Yogyakarta residents say they have noticed the change.

"Yogyakarta's climate is very hot now, especially when we go out in the daytime," said Amirudin, a father of two.

He said that the atmosphere around the Gadjah Mada University's roundabout, a popular meeting place, used to be cool in the afternoon.

"The climate along Jalan Kaliurang, which was cool previously due to its proximity to the mountain, is quite hot now, let alone the area around the university, which is closer to the coastal area," said Amirudin.

Yogyakarta Environmental Office's Waste Management Division head Peter Lawuasal said his office was conducting a study to determine the current trend in temperature rises.

The study is being conducted in 10 points in the city focusing on tests such as lead levels and ambient temperature.

"We are currently testing them in the laboratory," said Peter.

Peter added his office had previously conducted research on lead content in the blood levels of taxi drivers, bus conductors and pedicab drivers.

"Tests showed that the lead content exceeded the permitted level," said Peter.

He said the lead content in their blood indicates a high level of air pollution in the city.

The local municipality is carrying out a regreening program in an attempt to lower air pollution in the city. It has been using money from the provincial budget to procure idle land in the city for the past two years.

"We buy vacant plots of land and turn them into green areas or public parks," said Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto.

The tree replanting program is being carried out in conjunction with a campaign to plant trees along streets and in private gardens. The municipality will provide 31,000 tree seedlings by the end of the year and encourage residents to get involved in the program.