New site focuses on quake-proof homes

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang | Wed, 09/29/2010 9:35 AM

The Australian government, through the Australia Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction (AIFDR), launched a website on quake-proof houses campaign it has been carrying out since early this year.

The launch of the website — www.rumahamangempa.net — coincides with the one year commemoration of the massive earthquake that hit West Sumatra on Sept. 30 last year, destroying 249,833 homes and more than 7,000 public facilities.

Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires to Indonesia Paul Robilliard struck a gong to mark the website’s official launch at the West Sumatra Cultural Park in provincial capital Padang on Tuesday. The event was attended by West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno, National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB) Disaster Prevention and Response Affairs deputy Sugeng Tro Utomo, West Sumatra Vice Governor Muslim Kasim and actress Jajang C. Noer, who played a role in the media campaign program.

Robilliard said the new campaign would also use social network mediums, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to disseminate the latest information.

“More people living in quake-prone areas such as West Sumatra can access important information by providing materials online,” he said.

The program, he added, was part of the Australian government’s commitment to help Indonesia minimize casualties and economic impact in the event of a disaster.

Robilliard said overall, Australia had provided A$15 million to assist the post-quake recovery, of which A$10 million had been used to rebuild 39 schools and community health centers.

Earlier at the ceremony, Robilliard and US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel signed a plaque for the reconstruction of the SD 19 state elementary school in Olo village, Nanggalo in Padang.

The school, which suffered extensive damage in the quake, was rebuilt at a cost of Rp 1.5 billion (US$165,000). The school, including 39 other schools, which were built by the combined efforts of the Australian and the US governments, are expected to be completed this year.

Marciel said his government had provided $12 million in assistance for quake mitigation efforts in West Sumatra.

“I’m relieved to see the school reconstruction has been implemented successfully,” he said.

Governor Irwan expressed gratitude for the assistance from the Australian and US governments.

He said the Padang quake devastated 1,078 schools of all levels. In the past year, only 402 schools have been rebuilt by domestic and overseas relief organizations, while 399 schools are still in the process of signing memorandums of understanding with various relief agencies.

“The remaining 263 schools have not yet been handled and will be built with special allocations from the municipal and the respective regency budgets,” Irwan said.

Dutch pump nominated for British innovation prize

RNW, 27 September 2010 | By Conny van den Bor

(Photo Auke Idzenga)

Dutchman Auke Idzenga has been nominated for the World Challenge 2010 for an ingenious water pump. He developed the idea in the Philippines where he lives. The machine pumps clean water high up into the mountains.

The pump is made of iron and uses parts that can be bought anywhere, like a door hinge or a car tyre. This makes it easy to maintain. It works on hydro power, so all it needs to generate electricity is a slope and a fast running stream.

Great heights

A large proportion of the water which passes through the pump can be transported to great heights.

"For every metre downwards, the pump can transport the water 20 to 30 times further, 24-hours-a-day. That is a lot of water.'

The World Challenge is an international competition for projects and companies which help local communities all over the world. Auke Idzenga feels deeply honoured. After being presented with the prestigious Ashden Award by Al Gore in 2007, he has now been nominated for the World Challenge by the BBC.

Clean drinking water

The invention has enabled Mr Idzenga's organisation AIDFI to supply clean drinking water to 150,000 people. People living high in the mountains used to have to make difficult trips every day to fetch water.

Mr Idzenga went to the Philippines to live more than 20 years ago. He came from a family of social activists. When he travelled to the far east as a radio operator on a ship, and saw the terrible poverty there, he decided to dedicate his life to the poor.

Hydraulic ram pump

He first became active in a trade union in the Philippines. The union set up the organisation AIDFI, Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc, initially to support organic agriculture by applying simple technology which can be used anywhere.

"At technical college, I once worked on a hydraulic ram pump and it made a deep impression on me. When we set up AIDFI, I immediately remembered the pump. Back then the pumps were made of concrete, but I tinkered around with it until it was perfect and could be used anywhere."

Afghanistan

Meanwhile the pumps are being introduced in more and more countries. Laos and China have also joined the list. The most dangerous but also the most successful project was in Afghanistan.

"We built three installations there, under constant guard. Part of the job entails training local people to pass the technology on to others, so three Afghanis came to the Philippines for very intensive training."

The Afghanis then set up a shop and now they install pumps all over Afghanistan. The pumps enormously improve the quality of people's lives. People living in remote areas are able to wash themselves more frequently, which improves the hygiene. Cows and other livestock are healthier because they have access to water and people can grow their own vegetables. Some even sell their produce at markets. Mr Idzenga, "It is so rewarding!"

You can vote for Mr Idzenga's hydraulic ram pump project: The World Challenge 2010. The closing date for votes is 11 November. The award ceremony is on 4 December.

Unhan introduces disaster management program

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 09/25/2010 11:30 AM

JAKARTA: Indonesian Defense University (Unhan) introduced a new master study program on disaster management for national security.

Unhan, a state university under the Defense Ministry, said the new program was aimed at producing graduates to meet the need for experts who could help mitigate the impact of disasters and rehabilitate disaster-hit areas.

Unhan rector Maj. Gen. Syarifudin Tippe said Indonesia was wracked by many disasters. “Not many people realize the importance of understanding disasters, how to prepare for them, what to do when disasters strike and how it impacts the defense system,” he said in press release made available on Friday.

Applicants to the program are required to have a minimum TOEFL score of 500 and minimum Academic Potential Test score of 550. The program is open to members of the military and police corps as well as civilians.

Unhan said it would grant full scholarships to all students of the program, including covering the cost of field study to universities at home and abroad.

Every academic year, Unhan accepts between 20 and 30 students for each program. —JP

Coastal areas may disappear in coming decades

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 09/25/2010 11:24 AM

Four districts on the north coast of Jakarta could be submerged within a century if the city administration does not address environmental issues in its spatial planning policies, an expert said.

“Research shows that the sea level on Jakarta’s coast has increased at a rate of 57 millimeters per year because of the effects of global warming on the polar ice caps,” Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) oceanology department chief Safwan Hadi said Friday.

The districts of Pademangan, Penjaringan, Tanjung Priok and Cilincing in North Jakarta would be flooded by a half-meter of sea water by 2100, Safwan said.

“However, the city will probably lose those areas sooner as we also find that soil in the area is subsiding by between 5 and 12 centimeters each year,” he added.

The Indonesian Water Society previously stated that Jakarta was slowly sinking, warning that North Jakarta will be completely submerged within 50 years when the sea would reach Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta, around 5 kilometers inland.

Safwan criticized the Jakarta administration’s decision to continue development plans in North Jakarta despite expert suggestions to put the plans on hold pending a reassessment to better cope with deteriorating environmental conditions.

If the administration wanted to continue its development plans in North Jakarta, he urged officials to start making plans to prevent the city from sinking, Safwan said.

“The administration can build strong dikes following the Dutch example, where their country’s landscape and features are similar to Jakarta,” he said, adding that about 40 percent of the area in Jakarta was below sea level. (rch)

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President: Relocating the capital city an option

Moving Indonesia's Capital ‘No Help to Jakarta’

Jakarta Globe, Faisal Maliki Baskoro | September 20, 2010

Jakarta. Not so fast. Any recent dreams of cruising along Jakarta boulevards swept clear by a relocation of the capital to Kalimantan will likely continue to be just that: dreams.

Moving Indonesia's capital from Jakarta would
have little impact on the city, experts say.

International experts in urban planning and policy say moving Indonesia’s capital from Jakarta would have little to no effect on the overcrowding and crushing traffic endured by its residents.

The idea has gained ground in recent weeks, and the government announced last month that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was seriously considering a plan to relocate the capital, with Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan and Jonggol in West Java as the two most likely sites. Officials said Yudhoyono’s plan, also floated by presidents Sukarno and Suharto, was motivated partly by a desire to even the disparity in the country’s regional development.

For many Jakartans, though, the big boon would be a freeing up of the crippling traffic, which moves at an excruciating eight kilometers per hour, on average, costing at least $1.4 billion a year in lost productivity. And it will only get worse. The Jakarta city administration has predicted total gridlock by 2012 without drastic action, as the population grows and car sales soar by about 15 percent annually.

But Kenneth Corey, a professor of urban and regional planning at Michigan State University, says moving the capital would be no help.

“I know of no evidence that documents conclusively that traffic congestion is reduced by relocating all or some capital functions out of a national capital,” Corey said. He conducted an extensive study of capital relocations and their implications for South Korea’s now-abandoned plan to totally relocate its capital.

Wendell Cox, an expert on urban policy and transportation issues with the consultancy Demographia, said residents of Greater Jakarta could look forward to ever-worsening gridlock regardless of where the capital was moved. Cox noted that Jakarta, as the nation’s commercial hub, would continue to experience explosive population growth in the coming decades, as well as surging sales of automobiles.

Cox said relocating Brazil’s capital from Rio de Janeiro, Pakistan’s from Karachi and Nigeria’s from Lagos did not prevent those cities from extending their sprawl. He said Rio’s population had tripled since the capital was moved to Brasilia in 1960, while that of Lagos, which ceded capital status to Abuja in 1991, is expected to grow to 15 million by 2025 from an estimated nine million now.

He said the population of Greater Jakarta, or Jabodetabek, which he estimated at 26 million people now, would grow to nearly 40 million by 2050, regardless of whether the capital was moved.

“Based upon the experiences of Abuja, Islamabad and Brasilia, I would be surprised if a new remote capital would reduce Jakarta’s future population by more than two million, and it could be substantially less than that. A megacity of 38 million would be just as unmanageable as one of 40 million,” he said. He estimated that the 40 million mark would be reached by 2030.

Cox stressed that ultimately, while relocating the capital might make Jakarta marginally less crowded and would have other benefits, the city was still destined to suffer gridlock without a massive investment in infrastructure.

“If a principal objective of the capital move is to reduce traffic congestion, then it would be far better to spend the money on the infrastructure needed to do that rather than taking the approach of moving the capital to reduce traffic congestion,” he said.

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Makassar’s Sultan Hasanuddin Airport ‘Embarrassed’ by Flooding Incident

Jakarta Globe, Rahmat & Putri Prameshwari | September 19, 2010

Makassar. Indonesia’s already much-derided airport network received another blow over theweekend as the international airport in Makassar found itself underwater .

Departuredrop off - Sultan Hasanuddin International
Airport

Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, the main gateway to the eastern half of the country and one of five airports being prepared for inclusion in the Asean OpenSkies scheme, was flooded in up to half a meter of water until Saturday following heavy rains on Friday.

Airport operator Angkasa Pura I, which manages airports in Indonesia’s east, said a 2.5 kilometer storm drain that was supposed to carry rainwater away overflowed after particularly heavy rain.

The result was ankle-deep flooding in three of the airport’s waiting rooms, as wellas in the international departure lounge.

The airport’sapron was also flooded in up to 30 centimeters of water, while the airport’s basement bore the brunt of the inundation with 50 centimeters of water.

Purwanto,the general manager for Angkasa Pura I’s Makassar office, said the storm drain could not cope with the heavy rain. “The airport wasn’t designed to take a huge amount of water,” he said. “We have four water pumps, but we couldn’t use anyof them because the water volume was too high.”

Officials declined to state how many flights were affected.

The flooding also forced airport authorities to turn off the electricity to several sections of the terminal building, adding to passengers’ inconvenience.

Hakamuddin Jamal, an Angkasa Pura I commissioner present at the airport at the time, acknowledged that the incident “embarrassed” them.

“This isone of Indonesia’s biggest and most luxurious airports,” he said.

The airport said it would be adding more storm drains next month as well as repairing the roof and the network of drains running beneath the terminal in abid to prevent more flooding.

The flooding happened a day after the country’s main gateway, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, suffered a second blackout in as many months.

However,Tri Sunoko, director of Angkasa Pura II, which manages airports in the western part of Indonesia, said that Friday’s two-minute blackout did not disrupt flights or passenger services .

“Reports that up to 112 flights were delayed are not true,” Angkasa Pura II corporate secretary Harry Cahyono said.

Flood inundates hundreds of houses, farming areas in Tulungagung

Antara News, Sunday, September 19, 2010 18:04 WIB

Tulungagung, East Java (ANTARA News) - A flood inundated hundreds of houses at Bolorejo village, Kauman sub district, Sunday, at a height of up to one`s thigh.

The flood occurred at around 2 am local time following incessant heavy rains since Saturday (18/9), which triggered Song river to overflow.

The flood did not claim any live but damaged a number of properties belonging to local residents.

"We did not have a chance to save our belongings in our houses because the flood came when we were sleeping," Sunarti, a resident of Bolorejo village, said.

Hectares of farming areas were also affected by the flood, which inflicted material losses worth more than Rp100 million. Flood always hits Bolorejo village every year.

Meanwhile, the collapse of two main bridges in Margomulyo village, Watulimo sub-district, Trenggalek District, East Java Province, had isolated the lives of thousands of villagers.

About 2,000 residents of Margomulyo and Sawahan villages could not go anywhere due to the broken bridges, which connected their places with neighboring villages.

The bridges crashed by flash floods recently were the main accesses of the local residents to neighboring villages in Watulimo sub-district.

There were no other way to go to the neighboring villages, because places were surrounded by Prigi River and hilly areas, he said.

Due to heavy rains, flash floods had submerged at least four villages near the Prigi beach in Watulimo sub-district, Trenggalek district, East Java.

Among the flood-hit villages were Margomulyo, Tasikmadu, Karanggandu, and Prigi.

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Indonesian President Orders Telkom Bosses to Get Off Their Backsides and Do Their Jobs

Jakarta Globe, September 17, 2010

Jakarta. An angry President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered his officials to roast the management of state-owned Telekomunikasi Selular Indonesia after he experienced technical difficulties with teleconference service during a public relations exercise.

Yudhoyono, at a Idul Fitri police post in Cikampek, West Java, was discussing traffic flows with Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang with the media in tow when Edward’s image froze on the screen.

“It was okay before, why is it like that now?” the president asked. “Are there any Telkomsel officials here?”

Yudhoyono then asked a Telkomsel official whether the company’s president director ever checked on such network failures.

When the unfortunate official replied “No,” Yudhoyono ordered Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam to send a message to the president directors of Telkomsel, Indonesia’s leading cellular provider, and its parent company, Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), to ensure that all systems within their control functioned properly.

“Please tell them, ‘don’t just sit behind their desks. Make sure that the systems function. Now,’” the president said.

Antara/JG

Main road collapses in North Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 09/16/2010 3:10 PM

Slip road? Residents look at a collapsed section of Jl. RE Martadinata in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Thursday. Antara/Ujang Zaelani

A section of Jl. R.E. Martadinata in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, more than 100 meters long subsided 7 meters early on Thursday morning, hampering motorists from the Ancol area getting to Tanjung Priok Port.

To avoid congestion, Jakarta Police deployed more officers to reroute motorists onto alternative roads, police chief Insp. Gen. Timur Pradopo said during his visit to the collapsed road.

“The police and officials from the Public Works Ministry will set up a team to investigate the cause of the incident,” he added.

Meanwhile, motorcycles and cars are being allowed to travel on an unimpaired section of the road from Tanjung Priok to the Ancol area, said Timur.

State-run road contractor PT Binamarga District II director Winarno said the sloping ground might have caused the road to collapse.

River water, from a dredging project in the nearby Jabat River, had softened the soil on which the road was built, he added.

Divers searching for a reported victim of the road collapse in Jakarta on Friday. They found no trace of a body. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Related Article:

Collapsed Road Was ‘Yet Another Botched Project’

Jakarta struggles to make green buildings

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 09/16/2010 9:29 AM

A green Jakarta is still a distant dream — but builders and NGOs are promoting environmentally aware construction in the city.

Several ongoing green construction projects and the Green Building Council Indonesia (GBCI) recently launched the Greenship “green” rating system to assess new buildings.

One example, the Austrian Embassy’s construction project on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta, is a pilot project for state housing development company PT Pembangunan Perumahan’s (PP) Green Contractor program.

“We applied a ‘green way’ from the start of the project. It’s not only the building which will have green technology, but the construction process will also be green,” said Joko Nugroho, the project’s site engineering manager, recently.

“We want anyone on the site to obey certain rules to save energy,” Joko said.

The construction site is full of banners and signs promoting safety — as well as water and electricity conservation.

In front of the site’s temporary field office there are many potted plants.

“We bring them here to make the site cooler and greener,” an official said, adding that engineers had not cut down trees on the site.

Joko said workers were encouraged to bike to the site from the temporary office on Jl. Bonang. “It’s only two blocks away, so I advise them to use bicycles,” he said.

He added that workers had been issued aluminium flasks for personal water use instead of plastic cups to minimize trash.

“To prevent the waste of liquid concrete, we provide many molds which are used to create concrete in a small, regular block-shape,” he said, adding that the molds could be used for other purposes.

Joko said the office has a 1-squaremeter biopore that absorbs excess water to prevent street flooding, an adequate garbage management system and automatic light switches and faucets.

“We also have a green procedures checklist which adheres to GBCI’s standards for efficient electricity and water use and for monitoring green requirements for items such as water flasks, bicycles and potted plants, Joko said.

“We shipped most of the materials, such as windows, from Germany. We also cooperated with other green operators,” he said, adding that the building should be finished by February.

GBCI ratings and technology chief Rana Yusuf Nasir said that its Greenship certificate covered six areas: energy use, water use, site management — which included garbage and liquid waste — and material, indoor air quality and environmental management.

“Until now, no building in the city has obtained the certificate,” Rana said in an email.

Pelita Harapan University architecture lecturer Elisa Sutanudjaja said that buildings made from materials transported on fossil-fueled ships could not be considered environmentally friendly.

“We need to breakdown the materials and the methods used to obtain them,” she said, adding that Indonesia does not have high-tech technology needed to make green materials.

“There are many definitions of green and sustainable building concepts.

“Some use high-tech materials, but I prefer simple, tropical building concepts for Jakarta,” Elisa said.

Plants, ventilation and lighting systems that maximize the use of sunlight are suited to Jakarta, she said.

“Many buildings waste a lot of energy,” Elisa added. (ipa)

Paddling

The Jakarta Post, Antara, Jakarta | Wed, 09/15/2010 9:18 PM

Residents of the Civil Servant Cooperative Union (IKPN) residential complex in Bintaro, South Jakarta, are forced to use a rubber boat to exit their inundated housing complex on Wednesday. Heavy rain caused the nearby Pesanggrahan River to burst its banks, inundating the complex in water two-meters deep. Antara/Muhammad Deffa

Thousands of houses flooded

Antara News, Sunday, September 12, 2010 11:51 WIB

Cikarang, W Java (ANTARA News) - Thousands of houses in Muara Gembong subdistrict, Bekasi district, West Java, were flooded on Saturday due to the overflowing of Citarum river.

"The water level varied from 40 cm to 80 cm at the villages of Bahagia, Pantai Mekar, Jaya Sakti, and Sederhana," Muara Gembong subdistrict head Herman Susilo said on Saturday night.The flooding began at around 04.00 p.m.

He said the local authorities had been coordinating with other relevant parties to distribute assistance in the form of instant noodle, rice, and mineral water in case of larger floods.