Garuda to Expand Papua Routes in April

Jakarta Globe, Feb 01, 2015

Garuda Indonesia plans to add three more routes to the two that it
currently operates out of Biak district in Papua. (ID Photo)

Jakarta. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to extend its network of routes in Papua, the country’s easternmost province, as part of a push to open up the region to greater development.

The airline has agreed to a request from its office in Biak district to fly three new routes as of April from Biak to Nabire, Serui and Wamena, local Garuda manager Wayan Supatrayasa told Kompas.com.

“The facilities at [Biak’s] Frans Kaisepo Airport very much allow for planes operating from Biak to serve passengers from around the Cendrawasih Bay region,” he said.

“I’m optimistic that the new routes will help improve access to isolated areas and improve those areas’ development,” he added.

Garuda currently operates just two routes from Biak: one to Jayapura, the Papua provincial capital, and another to Jakarta via Makassar in South Sulawesi.

Susi Air operates routes from Biak to other points around the region, including Serui and Manokwari.

Related Article:

Jokowi: Papua Railway Development to Start in 2015

Indonesia unveils Lippo Village track

By Pablo Elizalde Friday, Autosport.com, November 14th 2008, 10:37 GMT

The new Lippo Village street circuit will host this season's Indonesian round of the A1GP championship, it has been announced. 

A press conference was held on Thursday to unveil the new track, which will host the first ever street race in Indonesia on 6-8 February next year.  

The 3.2km circuit has been designed by Herman Tilke and will run clock-wise, incorporating 12 corners, with an estimated average speed of nearly 180km/h. 

"This is an opportunity everyone to lend their support not only for the long-term benefit of the surrounding area, but Indonesia as a whole," said Gordon Benton, an urban planner involved in the project. 

"We have now joined an elite group of nations capable of hosting global motorsport series on street circuits. Such circuits include Surfers Paradise, Durban, Valencia, Monaco, Long Beach, Melbourne and Singapore." 

The track will have all the standard infrastructure of an international motorsport venue such as race control tower, public grandstands, exhibition malls, a pit complex, hospitality suites and media centre.

Elevated roads shot down by experts

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Critics said "more roads means more traffic" about Governor Fauzi Bowo's plan to expand driving space vertically, with elevated roadways stacked one above the other.

Experts say difficulty in purchasing land for new roads is behind the plan.

Andi Rahmah of the Indonesian Transportation Society said Monday the build-more-roads paradigm was obsolete.

"Five years ago, benefits from a new road would last a year. But with current traffic and the number of cars now, we enjoy the benefit of a new road for only a few weeks at the most."

"Expanding roads is not the answer by any means. It's only a temporary remedy for traffic problems."

For example, the Cikunir turnpike, which is part of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, a toll road, was just as congested as other turnpikes one week after it commenced operation in late August, Andi said.

"Only investors and contractors will benefit from expanding road projects, while the people will suffer."

"The city administration must focus on developing the mass transportation system and limiting the use and ownership of private vehicles to overcome traffic congestion."

Jakarta has nearly 5.5 million cars, motorcycles, buses and trucks. On average, 269 private vehicles and 1235 motorcycles are purchased daily.

Jakarta roads, estimated to total 40 square kilometers, expand by less than 1 percent annually and can only accommodate 0.01 percent of all cars, according to City Public Works Agency head Wisnu Subagyo Yusuf.

According to Budi Kuntjoro, a project director at the Institute for Transportation Development and Policy, mass transportation is the key to solving traffic problems in big cities like Jakarta.

"There will never be enough roads to accommodate all the cars, even if they are continuously expanded."

Fauzi said he planned to build underground roads and stacked, elevated roads like those in Tokyo, Japan, that reach up to five levels.

He said such roads, would help ease traffic congestion all over the capital as they did in Tokyo, apart from overpasses and underpasses he planned to build next year.

The elevated roads to be built would be linked to the existing inner city toll road and connect West, Central and East Jakarta, said Fauzi.

The elevated road project will cost an estimated Rp 21 trillion (US$2.25 billion), according to Fauzi.

However, he is yet to reveal the timeline for the project.

A transportation expert at the University of Indonesia, Bambang Susantono, said that -- without doubt -- just building more roads was not a sustainable solution to chronic congestion in the capital.

On the other hand, he said, sustainability was possible if new roads were part of a complete transportation scheme, feeding into bus lines, subways, and other systems.

He said it was important for the governor to determine the location of exits on the planned roads, as new roads to the center of Jakarta might do more harm than good.

Hypermarkets Allowed in City Centers

Monday, 23 April, 2007 | 14:29 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Zoning Decree that Parliament passed on March 26 regulates the zoning of modern market.

As for more-detailed arrangements, they will be included in the regional zoning made by regional governments.

Based on the zoning policy, for example wholesalers are allocated in suburban areas, hypermarkets in the major cities, supermarkets in satellite cities and mini-market in districts and sub districts.

“Modern markets cannot be built anywhere, although the allocation is not strict,” said Hermanto Dardak, Director General of Zone Planning at the Public Works Department, when contacted on Thursday (19/4) in Jakarta.

The arrangement is related to the environment, such as traffic jam potential and facilities, as well as infrastructure needs.

“What hasn’t talked about yet is competition with traditional market,” said Hermanto

The Trade Department complained about the zoning in the Government Regulation Draft on Modern Markets.

RR Ariyani

Indonesia minister calls for new-car ban

The Peninsula, Web posted at: 4/20/2007 8:49

Source ::: AFP

JAKARTA • Indonesia's environment minister defended yesterday his proposal to ban sales of new cars in a bid to slash pollution levels, amid concern from local automakers.

Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said the plan could be introduced if new anti-pollution measures did not improve air quality in smog-filled cities.

"The ban is a warning from me as environment minister because the air quality is already at a really bad level in some rapidly growing urban areas," Witoelar said.

"We need to stop the sale of new cars, at least we need to have a pause of new car production, unless they (carmakers) produce friendly new cars that use gas, biofuels or electricity," he said.

The minister said he would seek support from government colleagues for the proposal if the new measures proved unsuccessful.

The moves include publicly grading cities from the dirtiest to the cleanest. Indonesia had already introduced new emission standards based on international guidelines, he added.

The capital Jakarta and some other cities suffer chronic smog levels and traffic congestion is a major problem.

The auto industry warned the move would impact heavily on production and jobs, and said the minister seemed unaware the industry was already complying with international environmental standards.

The Indonesian Vehicle Producers Industry Association, whose members include the nation's biggest car dealer PT Astra International, called on the minister to get serious on pollution and crackdown on other industries and power plants.

"Pollution from vehicles is still nothing compared to other pollution sources," association general secretary Freddy Sutrisno said.

"The government should also come up with policies which help reduce urbanisation, spread out industries to other islands and take decisive action in battling forest fires," he said.

"And most important, they should set down long term policies to enable thorough preparation for their implementation."

Witoelar acknowledged the social impact of the ban would be horrendous for many Indonesians. But he said pollution from vehicles was also damaging, contributing to global warming.

"It's true that the ban would have an impact on Indonesian economic growth but we need to understand the impact of pollution on our planet would be bigger in the future if we don't try to stop from now causes of climate change."

He said he was concerned about rising levels of private car ownership which some data shows increasing at 11 per cent a year.

But association figures say sales of new cars plunged 40 per cent in 2006.

Cramped commuters still waiting for better city trains

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The people standing on the platform at a Central Jakarta railway station wore anticipation on their faces. Looking sideways to the chugging sound of a train, the-would-be passengers got up to wait at the platform's edge.

Some gasped a little at the sight of the overcrowded train approaching, dreading the next hour. Others, seemingly used to the sight, showed no reaction.

The train to Bogor finally arrived at Tanah Abang Station on Wednesday morning. One by one, the passengers miraculously got inside the packed train cars, as if sucked in by an unseen force.

For many people living in Greater Jakarta, economy class trains are the main transportation choice. Cheap and fast, the train is an effective means of urban transportation.

"I prefer using the train to buses, because it's cheaper and faster. I don't have to go through traffic jams," said Tuti, a 40-year-old Depok resident who commutes to Jakarta.

The fare for a economy class train ride from Depok to Jakarta is Rp 2,000. Taking a bus can cost Tuti as much as Rp 5,000.

Anton, a 24-year-old clothes trader who travels to Tanah Abang three times a week, also feels the same.

"I depend on the train for my transportation because it's much faster," he said.

Tuti and Anton are among the many devout users of Jakarta's trains.

However, according to Anton, train passengers are less than happy. Many feel driven close to breaking point by the poor services they are forced to endure.

Anton said services for economy class passengers were close to inhumane. He said it was time the government upgraded services.

"The government should really work fast to improve train services. Because conditions now are close to unbearable."

State-owned train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KA) is planning to launch an electronic ticketing system.

"People would get into the station just like when they enter a Transjakarta (Busway) stop," KA's Jakarta spokesman, Achmad Sujadi, said.

The electronic tickets are planned to be used at the Sudirman, Tanah Abang, Karet, Palmerah, Kebayoran, Pondok Ranji, Sudimara and Serpong stations by the end of this year.

"We will implement this for passengers who are subscribers first. Later we will try to implement it for all passengers," he said.

Anton said that electronic tickets would create order in train stations, "however, improvements should go further than that."

He said he had seen passengers fall off moving trains more than once.

"The doors are never shut and there are too many people," he said. He had frequently seen people fainting, he added.

"I guess it's because of the lack of trains servicing Greater Jakarta. It's such a shame because they're a very effective means of transportation."

Despite the obvious overcrowding of Greater Jakarta's trains, they in fact only serve around two percent of transportation in the region.

According to Achmad, 420 train rides serve 500,000 passengers in Greater Jakarta daily.

"By the end of 2009, we will operate air-conditioned economy trains and we will expect an increase in passengers to 1.5 million (per day)," he said.

Achmad said the Transportation Ministry had procured 140 air-conditioned trains from Japan, while KA had bought around 50.

He said that the company plans to charge a flat fare of Rp 5,000. "It is still being discussed," he said.

But Anton won't wait for two years.

"I think the government shouldn't wait so long if they want to improve the train services. The conditions are really hideous," he said.

Experts recommend tracking land-use trends from the sky

Anissa S. Febrina ,The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The regular evaluation of satellite images of the city could be useful in further efforts to monitor land use trends and their impact on the environment, an urbanist suggests.

Speaking at a public lecture Wednesday at Tarumanagara University, Andrea Peresthu of Technische Universitet Delft in the Netherlands explained that satellite imaging technology could help provide the government with a picture of the distribution of the city's ecosystem and land conversion patterns.

"The city administration could evaluate the GIS (geographical information system) images every six months, for example, to track which areas have been overutilized for commercial or residential purposes," Andrea said.

Overutilization and rapid land conversion, especially the conversion of water catchment areas for commercial and residential facilities, was one of the major contributors to the massive flooding in Greater Jakarta last week.

However, there is no valid data on the actual scale of land conversion and how much it contributed to the flooding, urban planning expert Suryono Herlambang said.

The Spatial Planning Agency, which is responsible for monitoring land use in the city, has complained its limited human resources make keeping a close eye on land conversion an impossibility.

Here is where GIS comes into play.

The Geographical Information System (GIS) brings together all types of information based on geographic location for the purposes of query, analysis and the generation of maps and reports.

It is a computer-based method of recording, analyzing, combining and displaying geographic information such as roads, streams, land formations or habitat types, sensitive areas, soil types, or any other feature that can be mapped on the ground.

Its product, a satellite photograph of a certain area, has been widely used in developed countries to assist in city planning and land-use management.

One of the most popular publicly accessible GIS images is provided by Google Earth.

The technology is already available at the National Aeronautics and Space Institute (Lapan), but is still underutilized by city administrations.

"We can provide images up to 1:25,000 in scale," Lapan remote sensing research and development division head Ratih Dewanti said.

A 1:25,000 image is three times more detailed than the regular city map and can show actual building density.

Lapan provides the 1:25,000 image for commercial use, while for public use it only provides a 1:500,000 image.

Despite the availability of the technology, the Spatial Planning Agency has not made use of it in urban planning and land management efforts, Ratih said.

According to Andrea, tracking changes through GIS images could be followed up with further analysis and evaluation, including tracking land conversion rates and population growth patterns, as well as sociodemographic patterns and land prices.

Disaster-fatigue and the importance of a Plan B

Manggi Habir, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Within a relatively brief period, we have witnessed a series of tragic disasters, both natural and man-made. This has ranged from the Aceh tsunami to the Adam Air plane crash and more recently to the Jakarta floods. This begs the question as to what we have learned from these painful experiences?

Unfortunately, we must admit not much. With limited resources and awareness, we have often ignored disaster prevention measures in our everyday routines. One notable trend, however, is that with a weak first line of defense, there is a growing importance of contingency disaster plans, or what companies often refer to as plan B (as opposed to the normal operating plan A). And with bird flu just around the corner, our plan B abilities will be truly put to test.

Preventive measures are, in the long run, more cost effective than remedial measures that kick in during and after a disaster. This is intuitive and common sense. On an individual level, better to buy and wear a motorcycle helmet than pay a brain surgeon to reassemble your head. For an airline, better to spend on safety measures than damage your reputation and forego potential revenue from customers switching to safer airlines.

For an oil company, it is better to ensure that safety standards are adhered to (especially when drilling in close proximity to heavily populated areas and public transportation facilities), than to have to pay for damages and compensation. For a provincial government, it better spending on early warning systems and going through practice runs, rather than having to relive another Aceh tsunami or Yogyakarta earthquake tragedy.

And for a municipal governor, better to spend on improving urban canals and drainage systems rather than losing political capital because of floods, should one have further political ambitions.

But, unfortunately, preventive measures are not without cost, while it is always hoped disasters will happen to somebody else, and thus are not a certainty. And with the lack of awareness of the need for preventive measures, even periodic building evacuation exercises remain a rarity.

Companies with the resources normally incorporate preventive measures in their business plans. They do this by identifying critical risk areas in their businesses, and correspondingly install ways to address and minimize these risks. In the absence of insurance, losses are quantified, should mishaps occur, and funds are set aside to cover these potential losses.

Minimum industry safety standards are set and adhered to with proper government or industry enforcement carrying sufficient penalties for non-compliance. Not easy in a developing environment, and to be fair even developed ones find this difficult.

It is like having to exercise, eat a balanced diet and have regular medical check-ups to avoid paying huge hospital bills later on. We know it is good for us, but never have the urgency or time, until unfortunately it is too late. Human nature is such that we tend to ignore the negatives and instead focus on the positives. It must be our survival instinct.

Indeed, it is our weakness in implementing and enforcing preventive measures in our daily routine that leads to the prominence of plan Bs. This is inevitable in an increasingly riskier world, with increased volatility brought about by, among other things, globalization, more frequent and extreme climatic changes and technological innovations. So what constitutes a credible plan B?

This column is not meant to be a treatise on how to do a plan B. Suffice to say that a plan B should have adequate funding, a realistic action plan, an organization with a credible chain of command to the very top (to get visibility, a buy-in from everyone and decisive decision making) and a focal point of communication to ensure accurate and consistent information is made public.

But a plan means nothing if it is not practiced. So it is vital that we do periodic practice runs. Plan B's ideally should remain a work in progress and, after each practice run, constantly fine-tuned to ensure credibility and effectiveness. Tsunami and earthquake practice runs are important exercises to go through. It is sort of like having an army in peacetime. We want them to be battle-ready and continually practice for a war, which we hope will never happen.

This brings me to bird flu, which has already claimed lives and could escalate further into a more deadly pandemic. Experts all agree it is just a matter of time before we have a pandemic. So, in this case, the early warning systems have already been switched on, flashing yellow warning lights. Unlike the recent tsunami and earthquakes, we have the luxury of a bit more time and thus both preventive and contingency plans need to be reviewed and put into action simultaneously.

Preventive measures include ensuring we are vigilant and report any dead birds to the authorities, and when the virus is identified ensuring we cull all fowl and animals (with proper compensation) that could transmit the disease within the surrounding area.

Identify key areas where the deadly virus can breed, like crowded wet markets where people and animals converge and try to ensure as clean an environment as possible. There has been heartening news of a bird flu vaccine being developed in Australia with some success. Although it remains to be seen how soon it can be safely used.

On the plan B remedial side, hospitals have been designated to cater for bird flu patients and isolation wards have been established. Aside from the hardware, it is important to coordinate the dissemination of information to ensure the public is made more aware about bird flu, the symptoms, the dangers and where to go for help should they identify it in their respective communities. Ways to deal with affected relatives and communities to ensure that the disease is isolated and contained is also important.

With all that has happened, it is no wonder we are suffering from a bit of disaster-fatigue. And it is now that our leaders, instead of pointing fingers at each other, should start showing real leadership. It is an opportune time, especially with the general elections only two years away.

The writer is a financial and business analyst and a lecturer at Tarumanegara University in West Jakarta.

Invest now or the whole of Jakarta will be submerged

Riyadi Suparno, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Floods have paralyzed Jakarta at least twice, now and back in 2002, and experts believe that the flooding is becoming a five-yearly "event," and that unless something is done to prevent it, we will have another major flood in 2012 or even sooner.

This time, the flooding is said to have been the worst ever, with 70 percent of the city affected last week. The losses have been huge, including dozens of fatalities. The official estimate puts total losses at Rp 4.3 trillion (US$470 million). This estimate includes losses resulting from disruption to industry and trade, household losses, damaged infrastructure and lost productivity.

Such estimates, however, do not cover intangible losses, such as the terrible inconveniences and mental distress caused to the victims.

Looking at all these losses, both tangible and intangible, as well as the potential losses from future floods, we might well wonder why the central and Jakarta governments have not invested more in flood-prevention infrastructure.

To date, most of our flood defenses were built by the Netherlands Indies administration, i.e., the canal system that channels water from the western part of Jakarta to the sea.

About 20 years ago, the city administration drew up plans to build the 23.5-kilometer East Flood Canal to divert water heading to Central and North Jakarta through a number of rivers to the sea. This project, however, is still in limbo due to the lack of money allocated for the project in the Jakarta annual budget.

Following the massive flooding in 2002, the Jakarta administration drew up a more comprehensive flood-prevention master plan, which incorporated the construction of the East Flood Canal. The master plan also envisages the construction of more sluice gates and water-retention ponds, river dredging and the relocation of riverside dwellers.

The plan will need a total investment of Rp 18.1 trillion, but to date has largely remained nothing more than a plan because not enough money has been committed to seeing it through.

But why the paucity of funding? Why has inadequate investment been made in flood-prevention projects given the massive losses that the inundations produce?

The answer may lie in politics, where proper project analysis is frequently absent. Projects of lower economic value are often prioritized by the politicians if they deliver immediate benefits that can be felt by their constituents, while projects of greater value may be ignored if their benefits will only become apparent years down the line.

And flood-prevention projects definitely fall into the latter category, where the benefits will not be immediately apparent upon the completion of the projects, as compared, for example, to the Jakarta monorail, whose benefits will be immediate. This might explain why the Jakarta administration is a lot more interested in pursuing the monorail project than the East Flood Canal project.

Unlike the monorail, where private investors are keen to invest their money, especially after a controversial government guarantee was given, flood-prevention projects like the East Flood Canal do not attract much interest from the private sector. This is what economists normally refer to as "market failure".

In such a situation, the government has an obligation to intervene. If the Jakarta government has no resources or lacks the capacity to implement the plan, the central government has to take it over. Otherwise, the plan will remain on the drawing board for ever.

There is no reason for the central government not to take over the project. First of all, it will have a spillover effect in two other provinces -- West Java and Banten.

Secondly, the government has the capacity and resources to implement the plan. If the government lacks ready cash at the moment, it can always borrow to finance this essential project.

In fact, financing the expansion of Jakarta's flood defenses through borrowing would be eminently sensible, and even be the fairest way of all as the benefits that the project will bring will extend to succeeding generations. By financing these projects through borrowing, the next generation will also play a part in paying for the benefits it will enjoy from the investment we make today.

Conversely, we must also ensure that we do not burden succeeding generations with unnecessary expense resulting from markups and corruption during the course of the works.

So, we have no other choice now than to soon put this comprehensive flood mitigation plan into effect. Otherwise, the whole of Jakarta could well be submerged in 2012, or even sooner.

City 'can't go it alone' on flood control master plan

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It is now one of the most frequently put questions: "Does the Jakarta administration have a drainage and flood mitigation master plan?"

The answer is, yes.

"But it's been difficult to materialize ... We expected the central government to take it over," city secretary Ritola Tasmaya said Thursday during a meeting with the Regional Representatives Council.

The master plan -- consisting of a land-structuring control system; drainage system repair; sluice gate and artificial lake construction; river dredging and the relocation of riverside residential areas -- was drafted in 2002, after a huge flood hit the city.

Besides the difficulties of putting the plan into practice without the full support of the administrations of the upland cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi, the plan was delayed due to the change of government in 2004, Ritola said.

He said the project, which required a total investment of Rp 18.2 trillion, should be taken over by the central government to spare it from the same fate as the East Flood Canal project, which was initially scheduled for completion this year, but was delayed until 2010 due to unforeseen problems, including budget cuts and the complicated process of land acquisition.

The drainage plan was drafted more than 20 years ago, but it focuses only on releasing floodwater as fast as possible into the sea.

The plan, made available to The Jakarta Post, shows the 13 rivers that run through the river blocked by huge canals that stop them from reaching low-lying areas.

The drainage system includes the Dutch-built West Flood Canal, the East Flood Canal and Cengkareng Drain.

"The canals would intercept floodwater from all rivers before it reached low-lying areas," said I Gede Nyoman Soewandi, the head of the Jakarta Public Works Agency's water resources development division.

The reconstruction of the more than 60-year-old canals will increase their capacity, he added.

The master plan, reworked by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, shows the only way to utilize rainwater for the purposes of effective urban water control is to protect lakes in southern Jakarta.

Asked whether the administration would revise the master plan due to the sharp decrease in water catchment areas both in Jakarta and its supporting regions, I Gede Nyoman acknowledged the administration was facing difficulties in realizing it.

"Even if we landscaped a one-kilometer stretch of the river, there would be a five-km section that had been damaged by human activity. That's why we've set no deadline for realizing the plan.

"The riverbanks are getting more crowded, forcing land prices up. The rivers have lost their ability to reestablish their natural functions"

The total length of rivers in the city is about 500 km.

The administration has conceded being late to establish drainage strategies to accommodate the volume of water entering the city from upland areas.

Only 2.9 percent of Jakarta has been utilized for its drainage system, lower than the recommended 8 percent.

Environmentalists say the lack of green space in the city has increased the flood risk.

Green areas account for 5,911 hectares or 9 percent of city land.

The administration plans to make 9,544 hectares, or 13.94 percent of city land, open and green space by 2010.

Governor Sutiyoso said the diminishing catchment areas in Bogor, Puncak and Depok had also contributed to the recent flood, which left 70 percent of the capital under water.

Learning our lesson: Will Jakarta sink again?

Andrio Adiwibowo, Jakarta

The sky over Jakarta was bright and everything seemed peaceful on Wednesday. However, if you turned on the television and watched the news, you would have been surprised to see the reality.

The capital city, the center of power and government in Indonesia, has been struck by floods and paralyzed for almost a week, leaving hundreds of thousands of people displaced and buildings damaged. The flooding covered 70 percent of Jakarta at one point. At least 314,000 Jakartans were directly affected and millions more indirectly due to electricity outages, disrupted telecommunication networks and water and gasoline supplies, and traffic congestion.

Jakarta is not blessed with great geographical conditions. It is located in the lowlands, near the sea, and is crossed by 13 rivers flowing down from the south. Yearly rainfall is more than 2,000 millimeters and there is rarely a year without floods. Another time bomb is the rapid population growth and urbanization.

These factors have combined to cause such urban cancers as massive land conversion, which continues to occur at full speed. The Jakarta floods are a microcosm of a much greater national problem. Regulations are ignored at will by the kings of the construction industry, real estate players and industrial bullies who run factories that ignore the surrounding environment.

A century ago, the Dutch colonial government reminded city planners that the development of Batavia, as Jakarta was then known, should focus carefully on the waterways. The Dutch, with their long experience in controlling water and drainage systems, made sure that Batavia had a comprehensive and engineered network of rivers, drains and canals to cope with the weaknesses of man and acts of God.

Nevertheless, the Dutch canal system never quite managed to cope with the drainage problems. For instance, in 1846, almost a century before Indonesia's independence, they chose the same approach as the current administration: to sort out the problems only when floods happened.

After the major floods in 2002, the Jakarta government declared a drive to prevent future flooding, but the campaign quickly faded away. At about the same time government officials proposed the creation of a megacity that would cover all of Greater Jakarta. The core of the concept was that the development of Jakarta, including its flood control system, should be coordinated with the four satellite regions of Tangerang, Bekasi, Bogor and Depok.

But the economic interests of the respective administrations thwarted the plan. The plan recommended that the satellite regions, mainly Bogor, put a brake on development and land conversion. Bogor considered the idea discriminatory and pledged to continue its development programs. The other satellite regions danced to Bogor's tune.

Sometimes, coordination has its price. The solution offered here is that Jakarta has to provide a lavish budget to buy land in Bogor that can serve as water catchment areas. Another strategy is to provide incentives for landlords or stakeholders to help in land preservation.

Managing the environment at a moderate level may be more promising. Instead of doing some acrobatic land-based preservation, one should emphasize the management of the Ciliwung River, which runs across Jakarta and Bogor. However, there are still dangers. The Bogor authorities will view everything that is dumped into the water yet has passed through its territory as not being its problem or responsibility.

Managing flooding is not just about how to keep people from water, but how to get people out of water to safety. Experiences from past disasters provide us a big picture of how poor the government's post-disaster management is. Some problems always on the menu are the poor availability of instant food, dry clothes, clean water and medicines for particular diseases. The authorities are now facing demanding challenge to accelerate the delivery of aid.

The next principle issue is policy. Most policies on environmental management are immature and being planned and applied only for the short term. On the other hand, environmental processes and problem are long term. We have assumed that within five years major flood would strike, unfortunately, the plan was only effective for one year.

The laissez-faire attitude toward the environment by human enterprises has caused one disaster after another. The immense destruction of rain forests takes place far away from Jakarta, but the message is the same: taking firm action only when the river of grievances overflows. One should notice how much the irresponsible behavior of Indonesians affects the severity of the "natural" disaster now under way in Jakarta

Right now the water has begun to dry up, as is our memory of yesterday's floods. Thus, we will forget and fail to learn. We assume nothing has happened, as if it's business as usual. If we continue to dance to the same tune, then what happened yesterday will recur, perhaps on an even larger scale. Apparently, the people of Jakarta had better learn to swim.

The writer holds a master's degree from the University of Queensland, majoring in Tropical Natural Resource Management, and teaches Landscape Ecology and Natural Resources Management Policy at the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Indonesia, Jakarta.

Press sees neglect behind Jakarta floods

BBC News

One paper praises the way Jakartans are supporting each other

Several papers across Indonesia say that poor city management has exacerbated the flooding in Jakarta, where hundreds of thousands of people are now homeless.

Some also blame the city's inhabitants for failing to keep the city clean, although one paper points out that the floods have also showed "the strength and unity of Jakartans".

And one daily argues that if Jakarta cannot avoid being flooded, then the capital must be relocated "for the sake of the image of the nation".

Read More ....

Unchecked urban development marginalizes the poor

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Imagine Jakarta in 2015.

Some 16.8 million Jakartans step out of mass transit vehicles or private cars and make their way into office buildings, schools, trade centers and malls to start their day.

There are smooth-surfaced streets, colonnaded sidewalks and tree-lined pedestrian sidewalks -- the city shines like a beacon to the rest of the world.

Families live in spartan-looking apartment towers surrounded by parks, or in villas on the suburban fringe.

But everything in life has a price.

In the process of transforming Jakarta into a modern metropolis, more often than not, those who pay the price are the ones who in fact have very limited resources: squatters, kampong people and street traders.

They are the dust that will be swept under the rug.

Comparing the city's current plan to develop Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta as a superblock and the existing condition of the area gives one a pretty clear picture.

Thousands of street and market traders try to make ends meet in the city's most crowded economic center, while thousands of others make the most of their makeshift homes in the alleys of Kebon Kacang.

For outsiders, the word Tanah Abang conjures up images of chaos, but, for its occupants, who are mostly migrants, it symbolizes hope and the dream of surviving in the capital.

In a 20-square-meter makeshift house within a Tanah Abang kampong, Central Java-born Bambang Supriyanto and his nine assistants supply blouses and dresses to kiosks in the neighboring market block.

It only took a small room and a couple of sewing machines to get the business running.

Proximity to the trade center was the sole reason why Bambang rented the house in the kampong. The same goes for the rest of the kampong dwellers.

But, sooner or later, they will have to pay the price for the city's development.

Jakarta's currently revised spatial plan declared Tanah Abang a prospective economic zone, in which an international multifunction area would be developed.

For the city administration and developers, the word "international" quickly leaves the kampong -- which is home to more than 150 small businesses -- out of the picture.

It has not happened, yet, but the master plan has already made the leap to the drawing board at the city Spatial Planning Agency.

The term prospective economic zones is so overused in the spatial plan that it appears to have become meaningless to the Jakarta administration.

In the past three decades, the phrase almost always translates to building superblocks consisting of trade centers, office buildings and high-end apartment blocks.

Most are built after kicking out hundreds of people without proper land documentation, who are deemed illegal squatters by the city administration.

And the evictions are getting fiercer.

The recent eviction of market traders from Pedongkelan, North Jakarta, to make way for a highway project sheds some light on city officials' view of the marginalized.

The traders objected on the grounds the lots they were offered as their new business premise were too small and not strategically located.

Suryantika Sinaga, the head of North Jakarta's small- and medium-scale enterprises agency, responded with: "If they want more land, they should leave Jakarta. They should thank us for giving them a place because, for all this time, they have been occupying someone else's land."

One could easily call those who jump to the defense of the evicted anti-developmentalists.

But development that only benefits a select group is not really development.

Urban development is sustainable if it permanently enhances the capacity of urban society to maintain or improve the quality of life without exhausting non-replaceable resources or damaging the economic, cultural, or natural environment, a 2004 Asian Development Bank report says.

Actually, experts say, the key to the problem lies in just spatial planning.

There is a significant increase in land allocation for "prospective economic areas," which will, by 2010, occupy half of the city.

While settlement areas are shrinking, urban planning expert Bianpoen said the city plan lacked social justice as it continuously evicted the poor to make way for the rich.

Urban planners have repeatedly suggested that the city administration, in facing the problem of slums and squatters, should take a number of new approaches to deal with the issue in a just manner.

The land-sharing method, one of the proposed schemes, was successfully implemented in the city center of Samarinda, East Kalimantan, where 30 percent of the renewed area accommodates the existing population in walk-up apartments.

The land pooling and transferable development rights scheme, which has already been applied in other Asian cities, could also be adopted.

Currently, according to city secretary assistant for welfare, Rohana Manggala, the administration has a number of programs in place to deal with the urban poor.

Efforts range from advocacy for relocated squatters, to help them adopt to life in vertical housing, to direct funding for district development.

"We have also tried to merge the informal sector into superblocks, as we did with the traders and locals evicted during the construction of the Kuningan superblock," Rohana said.

"But, in reality, it is a matter of survival of the fittest," she said.

Perhaps, as Rimbaud said, it is necessary to be absolutely modern. Even if it means continuously sacrificing the class struggle.

Key points of Human Rights Watch's recommendations on issues pertaining to slums and squatters.

1. Impose a moratorium on all evictions carried out on "public order" grounds, until a mechanism can be established whereby independent experts carry out participatory baseline surveys prior to any eviction.

2. Collected information from baseline surveys on the evicted population can be used to design a resettlement program that will leave residents with at least the same standards of living and income levels.

3. Jakarta ordinance No. 11/1988 on public order may require revision.

4. Conform eviction processes to international standards where it should never render individuals homeless or vulnerable to the violation of other human rights.

5. If the government wants to offer alternative land, aim to use sites as close as possible to the original area, and ensure that alternative sites offer residents adequate opportunities to continue existing livelihood activities.

6. Evictions should not occur during the school year or at times when the displacement of families will interrupt children's education. Compensation should cover fees associated with changing schools.

7. Minimize use of force.

8. Consider broader city planning reforms.

Source: www.hrw.org