March 7, 2025
JAKARTA – As the severe flooding that hit the Greater Jakarta area slowly receded, local authorities rushed to start the recovery process by cleaning up key infrastructure and residents’ houses, but the public demanded more tangible and long-term solutions to address the region’s perennial problem.
Torrential rains that occurred since the weekend paralyzed part of Jakarta and its satellite cities, especially Bekasi in West Java, which saw at least 16 districts inundated and approximately 16,000 people displaced. At least two people also reportedly died in the calamity.
“Thank God, the flood has receded in a number of areas. Now, our main focus is post-flood recovery so residents can comfortably get back on their feet,” Bekasi mayor Tri Adhianto said in a social media post on Wednesday night.
He further explained that his administration has deployed heavy equipment such as dump trucks to clean up flood debris.
“The need for clean water is also a priority. We will ensure the supply of clean water to the affected areas,” Tri added.
Read also: Authorities scramble to contain Greater Jakarta floods
In Jakarta, where over a hundred neighborhood units (RT) were inundated since early this week, the water has completely receded as of late Wednesday night.
“All the evacuees have also returned to their homes,” said Mohamad Yohan, the Jakarta Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BPBD) data and information center head, on Thursday. The number of evacuees in Jakarta reached more than 1,200 people.
The agency, with the help of the Jakarta environment agency and social service workers as well as police and military officers, is currently cleaning up numerous spots hit by the deluge.
The City Council, however, reminded the local administration to also prioritize the provision of primary needs such as food, shelter and health checks for residents affected by the floods.
“Long-term assistance, like home renovations, education for victims’ children and economic recovery for affected families, must also be a priority,” Jakarta City Council member Ali Muhammad Johan said on Thursday, as quoted by Kompas.
Read also: ‘Paralyzed’ Bekasi scrutinized for poor urban planning, disaster mitigation
Beyond the short term
In addition to the recovery efforts, environmental activists and the public have stressed the need for a longer solution to the perennial problem of flooding that continuously hits the capital and its buffer zones.
Environmental watchdog Greenpeace Indonesia urged both central and local governments in Greater Jakarta to join forces and focus on disaster mitigation efforts instead, noting that haphazard land conversion, especially in Bekasi, greatly contributed to one of the region’s worst floods in recent years.
The organization, citing Forest Ministry data, revealed that urban development in Bekasi took around 42 percent of the Bekasi River’s catchment area as of 2022, increasing drastically from the mere 5.1 percent in 1990.
“This land conversion diminishes the area’s capacity to absorb water, leading to increased runoff that flows into the river and causes overflow into residential areas in Bekasi, which are primarily situated in low-lying areas,” Greenpeace Indonesia data strategist Sapta Ananda Proklamasi said in a statement on Thursday.
Previously, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) head Dwikorita Karnawati warned that heavy rain would occur around the first week of March and reach its peak around Mar. 11 to 20.
In response to the severe flooding, Dwikorita also noted that the agency would continue its weather modification operation at least until Saturday to contain the extreme weather.
However, Greenpeace’s spokesperson Jeanny Sirait noted that local governments must not rely on weather modification practices and must instead focus on normalizing the catchment areas around the rivers to prevent further flooding.