Japan Water Plants Warned Over Radioactive Rain

Jakarta Globe, March 28, 2011

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Japan’s health ministry has asked water purification plants nationwide to stop taking in rainwater and cover pools with tarpaulins to shield them from radiation from a crippled nuclear plant.

The capital Tokyo and several nearby municipalities last week said they had detected radioactive iodine-138 levels that made their tap water unsafe for infants, although the contamination has dropped off since.

The health ministry warned at the weekend that fresh rainfall could capture radioactive elements that have escaped from the stricken Fukushima plant, and channel them via rivers and dams into drinking water supplies.

“As the radioactive substances increased in Tokyo after rainfalls, the ministry has asked operators of water purification plants nationwide to take possible countermeasures,” a ministry official told AFP Monday.

Steps included “stopping the intake of river water after rain and covering purified water pools with plastic sheets,” the official said.

“The ministry has instructed that such measures be taken only to the extent where they do not disrupt a stable potable water supply.”

The ministry also advised the plants that they can use a powdered carbon substance in the purification process to reduce radioactive materials.

Japan’s meteorological agency forecast that it may snow or rain Tuesday afternoon in parts of Fukushima prefecture, where the tsunami-stricken plant is located, and in neighbouring Ibaraki prefecture.

Agence France-Presse

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Nuclear Power Not Needed in Indonesia: PLN

RI Soil Too Unstable For Nuke Power

Water woes a worry for Indonesia’s big cities

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 03/23/2011

The rapid growth of Asian cities has not kept pace with the number of people who need clean water and proper sanitation, an expert says.

Densely populated urban areas in Indonesia still face obstacles in providing residents with clean water and adequate sanitation, Hubert Gijzen, the director of Unesco’s office in Jakarta, said on Tuesday.

“Ongoing rapid population increases in cities have impeded efforts to provide proper water and sanitation services for urban people, although progress has been made,” Hubert said.

Hubert made his comments on the sidelines of a discussion titled “Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenges” held by the Public Works Ministry, the UN and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

The discussion was held to celebrate World Water Day, observed on March 22.

According to the UN, the water supply in Indonesia’s rural areas increased to 71 percent last year, up from 62 percent in 1990.

On the contrary, the water supply to urban areas decreased to 89 percent last year, down from 92 percent in 1990, partially attributable to a vast increase in urban dwellers.

Gijzen said that finding innovative solutions to provide clean water was urgent given that the world’s population would top 7 billion later this year, half of whom would be concentrated in cities.

Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto said urban populations in Indonesia had drastically increased from year to year, resulting in the massive exploitation of land and water resources, as well as increased pollution from household and industrial waste.

“We have developed water catchment areas and drainage systems to provide better access to clean water to urban communities and to protect them from flooding,” he told journalists.

Yet urban residents face unstable water supplies due to the improper use of water resources and massive land conversions. Many water catchment areas have been converted to residences or industrial complex.

Gijzen said developing sustainable urban water management practices required a paradigm shift and innovation.

Citing an example, he said that eco-hydrology was a simple engineering technique that offered an effective way to provide better access to clean water for people living in urban areas.

“It sounds like a difficult term, but eco-hydrology basically tries to intervene in water flows in rivers, lakes, or even in coastal areas, with very simple techniques. It will help water bodies to strengthen their purification activities,” he said.

In the Netherlands, for example, local governments bought land from farmers and developed dykes along the riverbanks. “They can spread out the water inside the rivers. The rivers will be biologically more active,” he said.

LIPI director Lukman Hakim said conventional approaches for managing water resources that focused on technical aspects were not enough to cope with water crises in urban areas.

“We need more sustainable and integrated approaches to preserve water resources,” he said.

Gijzen said that eco-hydrology could not be separated from two other important steps — rational water use and innovative water reuse — desperately needed to improve water management. (ebf)

Nuclear Power Not Needed in Indonesia: PLN

Jakarta Globe, Ririn Radiawati Kusuma, March 23, 2011

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State Electricity Company (PLN) says it does not need nuclear power plants — yet.

The comments follow a continued effort by the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) to push for the use of nuclear energy in Indonesia despite an international backlash due to the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan.

“Commercially, Indonesia does not need nuclear power plants yet,” PLN president director Dahlan Iskan told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

He said producing nuclear energy was more expensive than producing electricity from coal and gas.

He said as well as coal and gas, which Indonesia had in abundance, other options included renewable energies, such as hydro and geothermal.

He did, however, say that it would be good for Indonesia to begin preparations for the possibility of using nuclear energy.

Batan is now focusing on the island of Batam as a proposed site for a nuclear power plant. Batam lies uncomfortably close to the major fault line that produced the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

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RI Soil Too Unstable For Nuke Power

Antara News, Otniel Tamindael, Sat, March 19 2011

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Jakarta, (ANTARA News) - Environmentalists and public activists have launched years of protests, arguing that Indonesia`s soil is too unstable for the building and safe operation of nuclear power plants.

It is because Indonesian`s more than 17,000 islands are scattered along a belt of volcanic and seismic activity, known as the Pacific "Ring of Fire" that makes the country one of the most quake-prone places on the planet.

Despite the nuclear crisis which was touched off by the powerful earthquake and its ensuing devastating tsunami in Japan, Indonesian officials are pushing ahead with plans to build the country`s first nuclear power plants.

But energy expert Lilo Sunaryo said in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday that Indonesia had to learn from the nuclear disaster in Japan and then review its nuclear power plants project.

"Indonesia has to learn from the disaster of reactor nuclear leaks in Japan and review its plan to build nuclear power plants," Lilo Sunaryo said.

Although the people of Japan have sophisticated technology and a high degree of discipline, Lilo said they were still overwhelmed by the nuclear catastrophe.

Even the Japanese government itself has admitted that it was overwhelmed by the scale of last week`s twin natural disasters and the nuclear crisis, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 10,000 lives.

"Let alone Indonesia which lacks of both technology and discipline. Some countries have even abandoned their nuclear power plants and the rest have reviewed their plans to build such facilities," Lilo said, referring to the Philippines, Malaysia, Spain, and Venezuela.

In the Philippines the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) has gone unused as the events in Japan have led the country to discard its plans to activate the plant.

A proposal to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines is at least for now dead in the water after partial meltdowns at 2 nuclear reactors in Japan revived fears of a Chernobyl-like disaster.

Meanwhile, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said it was better for his country not to have a nuclear power plant.

"You know my view about it. We do not know enough about the reaction of this material," Mahathir was quoted by Bernama as telling to reporters when he was asked for his view on building the nuclear power plant.

In Madrid, AFP reported recently that the Spanish government would review security measures at all its six nuclear power plants in the wake of the disaster in Japan.

"A review of the security systems of all the reactors in the country will take place to learn as many lessons as possible from what happened in Japan," Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian told Spanish Parliament.

According to AFP, Venezuelan President Hugo Chaves in Caracas last Tuesday said he suspended his country`s fledgling nuclear energy program in the wake of nuclear crisis in Japan.

Hugo Chaves said he had directed Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez to freeze the plans they have been advancing, for preliminary studies of a peaceful Venezuelan nuclear program.

"What has happened in the last hours is extremely risky and dangerous for the whole world, because despite the advanced technology that Japan has, just look at what has been happening with some nuclear reactors," Chavez said.

In the light of all these Lilo Sunaryo said it was no longer necessary for Indonesia to have a nuclear power plant.

According to him, a nuclear plant for Indonesia was a dilemma because besides producing energy it also produces hazardous substances with a tendency to create various kinds of diseases.

"The world at present is not in a situation of cold war and therefore the use of alternative energy should be optimized," Lilo said.

He pointed out that alternative energy could be obtained from sun, wind, geothermal, tidal waves, sea currents, and agricultural waste such as dried rice stalks or straw.

"Alternative energy will never be exhausted because nature can always provide it, and so will the energy from agricultural waste from straws so long as the people consume rice, but energy sources such as oil, gas, coal, and uranium would run out sooner or later" he said.

Lilo said Indonesia should not live in high risk with the use of nuclear energy.

"The nuclear power plants will only be profitable for the factory but not for the people at large," Lilo warned.

But ironically Irwan Meilono, a geodesics lecturer at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said in Bandung on Tuesday that Indonesia should not fear to build its nuclear power plants following the explosion at a similar facility in Fukushima, Japan.

He said Japan`s nuclear reactor blast was caused by an earthquake because most of Japan was quake prone, and although Indonesia suffered frequent earthquake, it still has many quake-free areas in Kalimantan, Bangka-Belitung, and northern parts of Java island.

"In relation to the disaster, Indonesia is predicted to resume the building of a nuclear power plant at by 2018 or 2020," Irwan said.

According to him, Kalimantan, Bangka Belitung and Irian are some regions considered as potential areas to build the nuclear power plants.

The nuclear plans are part of an ambitious proposal by Indonesia

to triple its electricity output by 2025 while weaning itself off imported oil and onto local coal, gas, and renewable and atomic energy.

A 2006 decree by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono calls for 5 percent of electricity to come from nuclear and other new energy and renewable energy sources by then.

The most prominent project is a proposal to build two plants with a combined capacity of 18,000 megawatts by 2022 in the provincial government of Bangka-Belitung because it is far from the most active fault lines.

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Storm Chaos Reignites Calls for Relocation of the Capital

The Jakarta Post, Dessy Sagita & Arientha Primanita | March 18, 2011

A tree collapsed in front of National Police headquarter in South Jakarta
 on Wednesday. Extreme weather in the capital saw hail falling from the
 sky, trees uprooted, widespread surface flooding and damage to the
exclusive Senayan City in South Jakarta. (JG Photo/Farouk Arnaz) 

         

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The Jakarta administration is organizing compensation for vehicles and structures damaged by Wednesday’s freak weather, but frustrated Jakartans say more is needed: a capital relocation.

“Jakarta is under pressures it can no longer handle,” said Andrinof Chaniago, a public policy expert from the University of Indonesia, raising once again the debate of whether Indonesia needs to move its capital.

The sever weather on Wednesday afternoon quickly flooded roads throughout the capital, downed 42 trees and broke off branches from at least 100 more, damaging several cars and buildings in the process.

Catharina Suryowati, head of Jakarta’s Parks and Cemeteries Office , said the city would compensate the owners of each unit damaged by the trees with Rp 10 million ($1,140) each. “To claim it, the owners must give visual evidence in the form of photos, a police letter and the vehicle documents, while for buildings or houses, they must attach a letter from their neighborhood heads,” she said, adding that claims would be accepted for two months.

She acknowledged that more than 2,000 of the 70,000 trees in the city are at risk of collapse. “The trees are old, sick, rotten or tilting by more than 30 degrees. The trees’ trunks are prone to be broken,” she said.

Hari Sasongko Kushadi, head of the city’s Building Control and Monitoring Office, said owners of cars damaged by four collapsed billboards could also make claims with the city’s Tax Office against the sign owners.

Nirwono Joga, an urban planner from Trisakti University, said the city administration was always reactive to incidents like this, but rarely made attempts to prevent incidents. “It is not the trees’ faults but the planning of the trees planters,” he said.

But Andrinof said the problem was insufficient infrastructure and services creaking under the weight of a growing population.

Jakarta has become a magnet for people across the country because it is the center for both government and business. “It is now time to consider separating these two functions,” he said.

Intan Wibisono, a public relations consultant, agreed. “If the center of administration is relocated, development will spread to another part of the country and people wouldn’t flock to Jakarta,” she said. “It’s going to be a very big investment, and I know the transition period is going to be chaotic and painful, but it might pay off in the long run.”

The price of inaction, Andrinof said, was expensive for Jakartans who are forced to spend more for gas and medical costs. “Not to mention, wasting hours on the road makes people aggressive; Jakarta is full of angry, impatient people,” he said.

Emil Hartanto, an office worker who rides a motorbike from his house in Depok to his office in Pancoran, South Jakarta, every day, knows this all too well. “When you spend hours in the maze of traffic, your mood is ruined, you arrive in the office tired and grumpy, with not much energy left to stay productive,” he said.

The capital urgently needs to be relocated, Andrinof said. “There is no way to catch up, a breakthrough must happen,” he added.

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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Governor : high-rise buildings in Jakarta quake-proof

Governor : high-rise buildings in Jakarta quake-proof

Antara News, Mon, March 14 2011

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said high-rise buildings in the Indonesian capital have been built to withstand earthquakes of up to several points on the Richter Scale.

"Theoretically, the buildings have the same strength as those in Japan. But we must not lose our guard," he said at City Hall here on Monday.

Fauzi`s statement came following a huge earthquake in Japan on Friday. He said although it was hit by huge quake many buildings in Japan remained standing and could withstand the tremor and the subsequent tsunami.

In view of that he asked the Jakarta provincial administration`s regional secretary as head of regional disaster management agency to study and evaluate the disaster in Japan.

When the disaster occurred in Japan the Jakarta administration`s assistant for development and living environment had invited the building construction advisory team to discuss requirements on the strength of building construction with regard to changing strategic environment.

The development assistant has also been asked to collect views from high-rise building construction experts for it. "I know there is now a safety requirement for high-rise buildings but how far it could assure safety during earthquake," he said.

Fauzi said four-storey buildings and shop houses that are not required to have a building adviser or a construction team also had to assure safety factors.

"I am afraid they would use construction materials which are below standards for economy purposes," he said.

"I did not accuse them but I am afraid it could happen on four-storey buildings or shop houses. We saw a lot of victims were in towns that had a lot of three or four-storey buildings," he said.

Editor: Aditia Maruli

Six rivers in Gorontalo polluted

Antara News, Sun, March 6 2011

Gorontalo (ANTARA News) - Six big rivers in Gorontalo province had been polluted and dangerous for water consumption due to contamination of toxic susbtances from illegal mining activities around the location,an official said.

The contamination was reported last year by Gorontalo province`s Board of Environment, Research and Technology, Chief of local Environmental Management Affairs Rugaya Biki said here Sunday.

Rugaya said the six polluted rivers were Bone (Bone Bolango district), Biyonga (Gorontalo district), Paguyaman (between Gorontalo and Boalemo district), Buladu (North Gorontalo district), Taluduyunu and Adagila Atingola (Pohuwatu district).

"The upstream, central and downstream parts of the rivers are polluted by mercury from illegal mining activities. Apart from that, we also find `Fecal Coli` bacteria contained in the water," Rugaya said adding that the bacteria emerged as a result of people`s careless habit of throwing garbage into the river.

In respond to this finding, Rugaya suggested people not consume the water of the six polluted rivers anymore. "The water is dangerous for human consumption even if it is cooked first. I also strongly suggest that people not use the water for bathing because it may cause light allergy," she said.

However, Rugaya guaranteed the quality of water processed by the government`s water processing company (PDAM). "Though the water processed comes from the six polluted rivers, certain treatment by the PDAM system makes the water save for consumption," she said.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Australian government supports clean water program

Antara News, Wed, February 23 2011

"This will help improve their health, quality of life and economic potential."

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Australia government supported clean water access program for about 2,000 households in Serang, Banten.

(FOTO ANTARA/Sahrul Manda Tikupadang)

"More than 100,000 people in Serang now have easier and cheaper access to clean water. This will help improve their health, quality of life and economic potential," AusAID Infrastructure Counselor Ben Power said in a press release received here, Wednesday.

Serang is one of 35 Indonesian districts that have received grants to install new water connections. Australia is working closely with the Indonesian Government to administer this program.

"Australia is proud to be working with Indonesia to improve access to clean water and is committed to helping Indonesia reach its goal of halving the amount of people living without access to clean drinking water," said Power.

The grant is part of Australia`s 25 million Australian dollars commitment to Indonesia to increase piped water in poor urban communities, and to increase the number of households with sewerage connections.

This support will give about 60,000 households across Indonesia new connections to piped water and up to 10,000 household`s sewerage connections.

A further 400,000 Indonesians will have access to cleaner water and better sanitation as a result of the Grant Water program.

Furthermore several cities and districts in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara and Sulawesi will also received benefit from this new water and sanitation initiative.

As well as this grant program, Australia is helping local governments manage community water supply and sanitation utilities to ensure the sustainability of this development.

Editor: Priyambodo

Port Road Continues Falling Apart

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, Dofa Fasila & Arientha Primanita | February 12, 2011

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Just two months after it reopened following Rp 9 billion ($1 million) worth of repairs, Jalan R.E. Martadinata in Ancol, North Jakarta, is collapsing at several points along its southern section.

Residents said the affected section of road, only a few meters from the Ancol train station, had subsided severely months earlier.

“The road has been like that for a couple of months now,” Beni, 24, a motorcycle taxi driver, told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

“A week ago some people from the Public Works Ministry came and put up barriers around the collapsed section.”

The road was more severely damaged last September along its northern stretch, 2.5 kilometers from Ancol station, when a 103-meter span consisting of two entire lanes collapsed into the Japat River below.

Authorities blamed the collapse of the 20-year-old road on the erosion of the supporting piles by tidal surges, while urban planners and city councilors believed it was due to weak monitoring and lack of maintenance.

Repairs were carried out by state-owned contractor Wijaya Karya at a cost Rp 9 billion, and the section of road was reopened in December.

When the Globe visited the site on Friday, it could be seen that several sections of Jalan Martadinata had subsided into the river, which runs along the right side of the road.

At least four sections of the road were being shored up by bamboo scaffolding.

Agus, 55, a construction worker who lives and works in the area, said the damage had begun almost a year ago.

“At the time, there was work being done to pave the road,” he said. “The contractors never got around to laying down the concrete before the land suddenly subsided beneath the road.”

Djoko Murjanto, director general of the Public Works Ministry’s Bina Marga unit, which oversees roads, said the cause of the recent collapse was land subsidence in the area.

“We’ve installed sheet piles to support the collapsed sections,” he said.

“We had planned to install them since the collapse of the road last year, however the land subsided faster than we expected.”

He added that an evaluation by the ministry last November had resulted in recommendations to shore up the entire length of Jalan Martadinata with sheet piles.

“Today we’ve done initial measurements for the section that has severely subsided, including other sections that are at risk of collapse, and we’ll install sheet piles along a 100-meter section to reinforce these sections,” Djoko said.

“The old design for the road didn’t call for piles because it was structurally sound, but the soil structure has changed since then, becoming soft and prone to subsidence.”

He said the planned repairs on the critical section were expected to be completed within two months, while repairs to the rest of the road would be completed later this year.

Djoko also said that since September’s collapse, his ministry had been monitoring the overall condition of Jalan Martadinata, one of the main roads for container traffic to Tanjung Priok Port.

“We’ve made a list of where repairs are needed and the points where strengthening of the physical structure is needed,” he said.

“A tender process for the repairs is also under way.”

He added that because the latest subsidence had been unexpected, the ministry would speed up repairs by skipping a tender and appoint a contractor.

“We estimate that it will cost Rp 2 billion,” he said.

Also on Friday, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said he had ordered the city’s Public Works Office to carry out an investigation into the newly collapsed section of road.

“The road is a national road, which means it falls under the authority of the Public Works Ministry, but we can help by carrying out our own investigation,” he said at City Hall.

He added that much of North Jakarta was prone to land subsidence as a result of massive groundwater extraction, which in turn exacerbated tidal flooding that kept the soil in a continuously soft state and more at risk of further subsidence.

Fauzi said the problem essentially boiled down to the lack of access to clean water in the area.

“As long as the public isn’t served by a good water network, they’ll keep pumping up groundwater,” he said.

“We need to be able to provide sufficient clean water to resolve this issue.”

Parts of North and West Jakarta have experienced some of the worst rates of land subsidence in the city since 1974.

The worst-hit areas are Muara Baru and Ancol, both in North Jakarta, which have sunk by 4.1 meters and 1.88 meters respectively during this time.

In West Jakarta, the land has subsided by up to 2.5 meters in West Cengkareng and 1.97 meters in Daan Mogot.

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Rotterdam mayor in Jakarta to help

RNW, 8 February 2011, By Michel Maas

(Photo: RNW/Michel Maas)

The Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, is visiting the Indonesian capital Jakarta. The two cities have signed a cooperation agreement for water management, but can Rotterdam's good intentions overcome the enormous problems facing the Indonesian port?

The mayor and his entourage are watching a small dredger pushing a mountain of thick black sludge and unidentifiable waste in front of it. A bucket scoops sludge from the water. The show is part of a project which doesn't seem to be making much impact. So much rubbish has accumulated under the bridge on which the bucket grab is standing that a dam has been created.

The dredging project is one of those in which Rotterdam is involved. It's not making any headway because there is no budget. Apparently that often doesn't appear until halfway through the year. No one in the mayor's group understands how this can be possible, but it seems that's the way things work here: Jakarta can do nothing without the government, the city services can do nothing without a budget. "The system needs to change" remarks Mayor Aboutaleb, but there is nothing Rotterdam can do to help with that.

Dry feet

The mayor has just signed an agreement under which Rotterdam is committed to work with Jakarta on water management. "Rotterdam can do a lot for Jakarta. We have a great deal of expertise with water." And expertise is much needed in Jakarta.

Mayor Aboutaleb is given a tour of the northern area, where the city meets the sea. The ground is visibly sinking: at the rate of seven centimetres a year. It won't be long before large parts of the city are under water.

He compares the situation with the Netherlands of 1953: after the flood everyone in Rotterdam was persuaded of the need for good seawalls. "Dry feet are a must. I see people in Jakarta are now aware of that. Dry feet are topic number one!"

Brick wall

The dredgers are part of the dry feet initiative. They will be used to clear out Jakarta's choked up canals and ditches in order to solve another water problem. Every rainy season parts of the city are flooded because there is nowhere for the water to go.

There are no seawalls to be seen and the dredgers stop working as soon as the mayor and his entourage are back on the coach. Ahmed Aboutaleb sighs "sometimes I have the feeling I'm up against a brick wall". Two days in Jakarta and the mayor seems close to despair already.

Then there is Jakarta's massive traffic problem. With no public transport and a desperate lack of roads, the city is in danger of coming to a complete standstill. On Sunday the mayor had an opportunity to spend plenty of time in a weekend traffic jam himself.

Religious background

But Aboutaleb is adamant: "Rotterdam can do a lot for Jakarta". Jakarta's governor, Fauzi Bowo, acknowledges that. Rotterdam is giving his officials training courses and Rotterdam is also giving Jakarta a foot in the door in the Netherlands, in Europe if you look at the broader picture. "We can't finance our projects ourselves. But we can talk to the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the European Union." He may not expect much of Rotterdam but every bit of help is clearly welcome.

Mayor Aboutaleb has another lesson for the Indonesians. The Netherlands is always described there as "the land of the windmills". Then there's the colonial history. And Geert Wilders. "At dinner they asked me what it was like being mayor of Rotterdam with my name and religious background. But in the Netherlands you can be given opportunities no matter where you were born."

He is opposed to the image of the Netherlands "elsewhere in the world, including here in Indonesia" as a country slipping into a deep pit of racism. "It's absolutely not true. I think it's important for someone like me to tell his story on a regular basis."

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Jakarta sinking fast in wake of construction boom

Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/07/2011

A recent study concluded that land subsidence in Jakarta accelerated at an alarming pace in the past four decades, and if no remedial measures were taken, the northern part of the city could sink below sea level in the next decade.

Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) researcher Heri Andreas said the persistent inundation of North Jakarta would only get worse in the future.

“Several areas in the northern coastal region of Jakarta will subside by 60 centimeters by 2020. In 2050, the area could sit 2.2 meters lower than in 2008,” said Heri, who is also a member of the Jakarta Coast Defense Strategy (JCDS).

Heri predicted that if no action was taken to mitigate land subsidence, flooding and high tides would contribute to 5,100 hectares of land in North Jakarta being submerged in 2020 and another 6,000 hectares in 2050.

A worst-case scenario, however, put the figures at 16,200 hectares in 2020 and 18,100 hectares in 2050.

“In this scenario, the northern coast of Jakarta could be 2 meters under water by 2020 and 6.9 meters under water by 2050,” Heri said.

Global sea levels have risen at a rate of about 1 to 2 millimeters per year on average, and this rate is expected to increase to 5 millimeters per year by 2050.

A recent study by ITB showed that the sea level in the Jakarta northern coastal region rose at a rate of 5.7 millimeters per year.

The most recent finding by the JCDS showed that around 40 percent of land in Jakarta was already below sea level.

Given the finding, the JCDS predicted that within between the next 10 to 20 years, 50 percent of the city would lie below sea level.

The JCDS data also showed that between 1974 and 2010, the Muara Karang area in North Jakarta had sunk 4.1 meters. West Cengkareng in Tangerang had sunk 2.5 meters in the same period.

The Daan Mogot area in West Jakarta and Ancol in North Jakarta sank 1.97 meters and 1.88 meters respectively in the same period.

Between 1974 and 1982, land subsidence rates were not as significant as today. The problem became worse after the region saw a construction boom in property and industry.

A number of dikes constructed by the city, including in Muara Angke, Muara Karang, Pluit, Cilincing and Marunda, are no longer capable of holding back the water that has increased rates of land subsidence.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo recently admitted that the city was sinking at an alarming rate.

“We have no other choice but to construct a new embankment in Jakarta Bay,” Fauzi said.

He said the city needed a giant seawall to protect the capital from flooding, but added that construction could only begin in 2025.

The construction of the seawall is a joint project run by the city administration and the JCDS, which is funded by the Dutch government.

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