Friday, February 2, 2007

21 days to go...

An unsettling day for the people hit by severe floods here in Jakarta. Main thoroughfares were flooded. The expressway to the airport was closed for part of the day. Even foreigners in some posh residential areas were subjected to shoulder-high water inside their houses. My friend was to catch an 8:45 pm flight to Australia and left the hotel at 3 pm. I hope he made his flight.

People were caught in endless traffic jams in flooded areas, while roads in other areas were unusually quiet as people stayed at home. The floods caught a colleague by surprise as he was returning to Jakarta from Honduras with his wife and new-born baby. It took them three hours to reach home after the long flight from the US.

It felt strange not to be affected personally. Roads in my area remained clear and I had several meetings from 10 to 5 in a government office building without any trouble, although one of the directors’ rooms was flooded. Many people still came to work. I heard stories of people being transported out of their housing compounds by boat to catch public transport and make their way to work. While flooding is an annual occurrence in Jakarta, this one was particularly severe.

Stepping into the car and not knowing when you will arrive is disconcerting. As I write, people are still spending hours in traffic jams with hardly any movement. Nature is unpredictable, and man’s folly in uncontrolled construction in the upper catchments of river basins has made the effects worse.
I commiserate with those who have lost their possessions, and with those who are feeling suffocated in endless traffic jams. I wish to share positive energy with them.

Notwithstanding the floods, my working week ended positively. Collaborating as a team, we achieved a good result. In this weekend I look forward to some rest and recreation, and to finish my research article.

Photograph: Happy anytime, anywhere (from the Jakarta Post).

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