Rains come about the same time every year. Last year when the rains came, Jakarta experienced its worst flood for the previous five years. Huge swaths of the nation’s capital, including even upmarket areas like Kelapa Gading, was under water.You would think that the country’s leaders, from the President down, would have said then: “OK, that’s it, we got to do something about these floods of more people would suffer next year and we would have nowhere to hide our faces for failing the people.”
If only that was the case. What is wrong with Indonesia’s leaders? Even when they themselves experience something like the floods, they do nothing.
Look at, for instance, the clip below. The President’s motorcade was stuck in the floods and he had to abandon his sedan for a SUV. So what does his spokesman Andi Mallarangeng tell the nation’s media? “…the President is just like other people who tried to avoid the floods.”
Just like other people? For heaven’s sake the President is not like other people! He is the President. Presidents of any worth make things happen.
He should not be avoiding the floods like other people, he should have been ensuring that the floods never returned this year instead.
This post is dedicated to my friend who spent 14 hours on the road trying to get to the airport yesterday. He didn’t make it and sms’d me an angry missive today saying that like others he was suffering and “the government just did nothing.”
SBY trapped in flood
Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Even the country’s President could not escape the impact of floodwaters that swept across Jakarta on Friday, although he was able to make his cabinet meeting at the State Palace. |
| “We were afraid something worse might happen to the sedan if we insisted to continue,” said presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng. “That’s why the President moved. After all, the President is just like other people who tried to avoid the floods.”
Yudhoyono continued his journey to the palace using the busway lane, while his sedan was left on the side of the road. |
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Huuu…. This is what you’ve got for voting “The Expert” as a mayor of Jakarta. He conveniently blame the flood as natural causes (since when it doesn’t???) and bad drainage systems (which he could have done something as soon as he was sworn into office.
If I were SBY, I would have called “The Expert” into my office and give him something he will remember as long as he is in office.
Having walked home from Tamrin to Karet through a flood of couple of years ago, I thought I’ve seen it all. People back then said this was the worst flood until then. But apparently things can get even worse. Just saw on BBC what happened. It does look bad. Again.
Talked to a couple of engineers. If I understood it correctly the flood problem can be solved for a big part with parks. Lots of parks. One of the main problems is the fact that the water can’t get away through the regular channels. And than there is the plugged up sewer system. But mostly it the fact that there are only houses and building in the whole Jabotabek area, but no fields of grass to speak of that can absorb water.
There’s something odd about these problems.
It ‘s like the forest fires in California. There were some last year. There will be some next year.
Or the traffic jams at home. Tomorrow morning tens of thousands will get stuck like last Friday they got stuck.
Let’s not forget last year hundreds of people died in sliding mud from mountains and hills. This year this will happen again.
Etc.
Of course it is possible to solve Jakarta’s flooding problems. Unfortunately that will only be the case if
- priorities will change
- a considerable budget can be made available
- a lot of short term problems that will be caused by the solution can be taken for granted
- democratic, charismatic but resolute political leadership can be attached to engineering, technological and financial geniuses.
@colson: That’s a lot to ask for. But I agree with you on conditions for solving jakarta’s problems. Te problem is how to make these conditions possible?
I think political activism can make these things happen. I’ve toyed the idea of coming up with a media watch to force the press into getting their priorities right but bad Bahasa Indonesia’s been a problem with me getting off my tush.
Nay, blaming the president is not worth.
It is Fauzi bowo (FB) who should pay for all the show. FB should be ashamed from head to toe actually, unless he lost his “urat kemaluan”. Well, he may talk now; we, wait until end of this rainy season, see what he will do the summer, and the next rainy season will be his “final judgement”.