JAK/2004/PI/H/1

With its population exceeding twelvemillion, Jakarta is considered as one of themost problematic “mega-cities” in the worldfor its intricate urban development issues.Located in a coastal lowland area cut acrossby 13 rivers and many other streams,Indonesia’s capital city is affected byrecurrent inundations, especially during therainy season (from October to March).

In February 2002, disastrous floods affected24 % of its total area (around 650 km2),claiming at least 30 lives, and paralyzing thecity for days. One of the most-severelyaffected areas was the sub-district ofKelurahan Bidara Cina (East Jakarta).Divided into 16 community organizations(RW, i.e. Rukun Warga, local neighborhoodunits under the authority of Kelurahan),

2

“During floods in early2002, at least 30 people were

killed and 300,000 wereforced to flee their homes.

The biggest flood in the city'shistory hit 168 of 262 sub-districts and paralyzed the

capital for days.”

(The Jakarta Post, 10 September 2003)

Kelurahan Bidara Cina is inhabited byapproximately 44,000 persons. Theneighborhood unit RW 06 was selectedas the pilot area for the implementationof the project (more than 3.000residents). Located along the CiliwungRiver, this area is particularlyvulnerable to inundations and wasaffected by severe, recurrent floodingover a five-year period. In February2002, the average height of flood watersranged from 150 to 300 cm, affecting30 households. During the inundations,which usually occur once or twice ayear, many residents have to evacuate tosafe places (offices in RW 07, the PublicHealth Center in RW 06 or OttoIskandardinata Street). Duringevacuation, the Indonesian Red Crossand different governmental and non-governmental organizations help thecommunity to establish a publickitchen, shelters and offer free medicaltreatment. Residents sometimes refuseto leave their homes, and get trapped. Insuch cases, a rescue team helps themevacuate using ropes and special, rubber-inflated inner tubes and also providesfood.

3

Recurrent severe flooding, especially in 1996 and 2002, causedgreat damage and economic losses to the population living inand outside Jakarta. Besides high annual rainfall, rapidurbanization is considered to be a major factor amplifying themagnitude of floods. Two main causes related to the high rateof urbanization are impermeabilization of catchment areasand the use of the river for waste disposal.

RW 06 of Kelurahan Bidara Cina is thecommunity organization selected for this pilotproject. Identified as one of the most severelyaffected areas during the floods of 2002, it wasselected following the recommendation of theCity Mayor of East Jakarta. It counts 757households for a total population of 3,076persons. It was one of the five RWs of BidaraCina most badly damaged by previous floods.Many residents of RW 06 live on the Ciliwung’sriver banks, and thus are extremely vulnerableto annual floods.

4

The project is based onthree fundamentalprinciples:

• Communityparticipation

• Non-structuralmitigation measures

• Bottom-up approach

Dealing with floods is like putting togetherthe pieces of a puzzle, as understanding thecauses of floods involves accurateconsideration of a range of environmentaland socio-economic factors. For thesereasons, it is generally recognized that thereis a need for coordinated action at all levels,encompassing all community actors. Adisaster-reduction programme shouldnormally begin with the identification of thespecific problems that a community facesand with the assessment of people’sperceptions of how to solve them. Thisapproach avoids the constraints which mayarise when the solutions proposed are solelygenerated from actors, such as authorities,institutions or organizations external to thecommunity and, therefore, may not reflectlocal needs.

Starting from these considerations, theCommunity-based Flood Mitigation Projectwas designed and developed on the basis ofthree simple but fundamental principles:

1. Community participation;2. Non-structural mitigation measures;3. Bottom-up approach

The spontaneous participation of thecommunity in all phases of the project

is important to ensure the effectiveness andthe efficiency of the results of the mitigationmeasures. The first phase of the projectconsisted of several activities aimed atassessing the community’s

1

Residents try to save their valuable belongings …

5

vulnerability and capacity to cope with,mitigate and recover from floods. Thecommunity participation is especiallyneeded in order to identify priority actionsand target groups, but also to increase thevisibility and legitimacy of the activities andmeasures proposed.

Flood mitigation consists ofpreventive measures taken in order to

decrease or eliminate the impact of theevent on society and the environment. Itincludes structural and non-structuralaspects. Structural measures compriseattempts such as raising streets and floorlevels, the construction of canals, dikes andsluices, etc. Non-structural measuresinclude the development of early warningsystems and activities aimed at increasingcommunity preparedness to deal withfloods. Human resources in the form ofknowledge, skills and local cooperation inresponse to these events are extremelyuseful in minimizing economic losses. Forthis reason, non-structural measuresembrace public education and trainingcourses for the community.

The second phase of the project, theimplementation phase, is characterized

by a bottom-up approach: the communityitself, through the establishment of acommunity forum, developed differentproposals for activities (waste management,forum strengthening, technical attempts forflood preparedness) aimed at improving itsown capacity to cope with floods. Thecommunity forum is responsible foridentifying possible solutions andmonitoring and ensuring theimplementation and follow-up of the floodmitigation measures taken.

2

3

“Previously, I took theflood occurrence forgranted. We are used to it,anyway… What we didwas only securing thevaluable properties byputting them to higherand safer places.”Oemar

6

Changingpeople’s behavior:The Flood Mitigation Project isdesigned to improve thecommunity’s understanding andawareness of natural and socialcomponents of floods and aimsat strengthening the people’spreparedness to deal with theseevents. The final objective is tobring about changes in thecommunity’s behavior in orderto reduce the vulnerability ofresidents and their homes.Besides the improvement ofmanagement and coordinationsystems, the achievement ofsuch goals requires the fullinvolvement of communitymembers who need to besupportive and willing tocontribute to the success of theactivities proposed.

The pilot project is intended to be a firststep in establishing a permanent programof flood mitigation involving otherneighborhoods of the city. Each phase ofthe project was conceived in a way so as tobe easily replicated on a larger scale, withthe ultimate goal of improving floodcontrol throughout the entire city.

Methodology:The project was structured in two phases.The first phase from July 2003 to January2004 was characterized by the facilitationprocess, which included activities aimed atassessing the community’s capacity andvulnerability in relation to flood events,and by public education and trainingcourses for community representatives.The training involved community-basedfirst aid; integrated waste management;flood mitigation; institutional framework;

Full involvement of communitymembers is needed in order toensure successful results.

The ultimate goal is to improveflood control overall Jakarta.

7

and strengthening communitycapacity. At the end of the first phase,a community forum was established.This consists of 20 representativeswho participated, on a voluntarybasis, in both the facilitation processand the training courses. Their firstresponsibility was to develop severalproposals about possible activitiesaimed at improving the assessedcapacity and decreasing vulnerability.

The second phase consisted in theimplementation of the communityforum’s proposals. From May toAugust 2004, the community’srepresentatives attended new trainingcourses, such as search and rescue;post-flood health management, wastemanagement and leadership training.Besides the training courses, a wastecollection system was established,promoting recycling and composting.

The Community Forum

To ensure the participation of theresidents in each phase of theproject, a community forum wasestablished. Its membersfollowed the training courses andlater developed the programproposals implemented in phasetwo. The community forum playsa fundamental role. It is thechannel through which theresidents of RW 6 can expresstheir needs in relation to floodsand acts as a multiplier ofknowledge. It is expected to be amotivator for the other membersof the community. The forum isin charge of pre- and post-disaster assistance and of thecoordination with governmentauthorities as well as within thecommunity itself. In addition tothat, it is responsible for ensuringthe continuation of the programand for developing futureactivities.

8

Learning more aboutfloodsThe training was divided into twomodules. During the first module,community members wereintroduced to flood disastermanagement. The training focusedon the following subjects: causesand consequences of floods, basichydrological concepts andprocesses, interaction betweenwater and urban waste, flooddisaster and risk assessment(including capacity andvulnerability assessment), andinstitutional framework for floodmanagement.

The purpose of the first moduletrainings was to provide theresidents of RW 6 with basicknowledge of flood disasterprocesses and impacts andmitigation measures.

How to live with floodsWhile the first module trainings aimed atintroducing the community members to theconcepts and theories of flood mitigation,the second module gave participants theopportunity to take part in more practicalactivities in the field. Among them arewaste management training (see next page);public awareness - where the communitylearned how to disseminate knowledgeregarding floods through educationalmaterials and media campaigns, how toestablish a communication network, how toorganize search and rescue simulationactivities and community-based first aid.

During the second phase of the project,community members attended new trainingsessions conceived as a follow up to the firstmodule trainings. These included: leadershiptraining – to develop the organizational skillsand the leadership capacity of team membersand the community in general; wastemanagement; search and rescue; fire drills –technique of extinguishing a fire by usingwet sacks and simple fire extinguishers; andpublic health – to provide information andcounseling on post-flood epidemic diseasesand initial treatment.“After the

establishment of theCommunity Forum, I feel that weare more unified in helping thevictims of floods. I personallybenefited from the activities undertaken,such as Search and Rescue training.Before, I had no practical experiences inhelping the flood victims, but now Iknow how to do it.” Sofyan

Photo Caption:

During floods, the garbage obstructs the dykesand the channels, impeding water to drain andincreasing therefore the impact of these events.

9

Floods are major causes for the loss of lifeand property, but death is caused moreoften through water- borne diseases thanby drowning. The danger of drowning isacute in flash floods and surges. Fewpeople drown in river floods, but poorenvironment conditions aggravated byfloods cause suffering, disease and death.

Dumping wasteinto the river:Most inhabitants of RW 6,especially those living along theriver, use the Ciliwung River aswaste disposal despite theavailability of a collecting systemthrough handcarts. One of thereasons is that many residents arereluctant to pay for their waste tobe collected, showing strong lack ofsensitivity concerning theenvironmental quality of theirneighborhood. The wastemanagement activities aim atchanging this behavior and atpromoting a better quality of life,while decreasing the negativeimpact of floods. The Communityof Banjarsari, South Jakarta, wherea project on waste management wassuccessfully implemented, providedthe training, in close collaborationwith UNESCO - Coastal Regionsand Small Islands Unit.

Before...

... and after

10

A waste collectionsystem:Pilot test for the establishment of awaste collection system started in May2004. Twenty-two communal wastebins and 205 household waste bins weredistributed, with the aim of encouragingthe residents to dump their waste inappropriate places. Once a day, threepersons collect the waste with a wastecart. The collection system has beensuccessful, since most residents startedusing the waste bins instead of dumpingtheir waste in the river or on theriverbanks. After two weeks, thepositive impact of the collection systemon the local environment of RW 6 wasalready visible.

“I used to dump the waste intothe river even though I realizedit was wrong. I don’t have to doit anymore, since I only have towait for the waste collectors tocome and take it, so that theriver and the surrounding areabecome cleaner.” Juki

“I used to walk a long way todump the waste into the river.Now, we only have to wait forthe waste to be taken by thehandcarts.” Pinah

Training onpaper recycling.

11

Paper recycling:With the aim of empowering the youngpeople living in the community, some ofwhom are unemployed, paper-recyclingactivities were introduced. The trainingwas provided by a facilitator who camefrom Banjarsari. In addition to thisactivity, the participants learned how tocreate new objects out of used materials(photo-frames, small boxes, etc.).

Composting is another initiative whichwill be implemented later in order toreduce the volume of household waste,mainly organic waste.

The closure of access to the CiliwungRiver was also decided in order todiscourage residents from using the riverfor waste disposal. Four accesses wereclosed thanks to the construction of newfences.

SupportEven if efficient flood reductioninitiatives are mainly attributed tospontaneous participation of thecommunities and directinvolvement of people, theimplementation of community-based flood mitigation actions hasto go beyond the mere initiative ofthe local community. Fullsuccessful results need externalsupport from governmentinstitutions, non-governmentorganizations (NGOs) and,sometimes, internationalorganizations. Therefore, theHydrology Unit of the UNESCORegional Science Bureau for Asiaand the Pacific in Jakarta, as wellas both Education and CoastalRegions and Small Islands Unitssupported this project in closecollaboration with LAPI–ITB. Ateam of LAPI-ITB was responsiblefor facilitating the community andhelping it develop and implementthe pilot project.

Other institutions providedexternal support. For example, theIndonesian Red Cross provided thecommunity-based first aid trainingand the Community of Banjarsari,South Jakarta, in closecollaboration with UNESCOCoastal Regions and Small IslandsUnit, provided the training onintegrated waste management. TheSection of Sanitation of East JakartaMunicipality provided support forthe initial phase of wastecollection.

Photo Credits- UNESCO Office, Jakarta- LAPI-ITB- Jakarta Post- Koos Wieriks

Developed byUNESCO Office Jakarta, 2004

Text revised byMarilyn August

Graphic DesignGrha Info Kreasi,ikreasi@cbn.net.id

Printed in Indonesia

Contact:UNESCO Jakarta

Giuseppe ArduinoPungky UtamiGiorgia PelliJalan Galuh II, No. 5Kebayoran BaruJakarta 12110IndonesiaTel.: +62 21 739 9818Fax: +62 21 727 96489jakarta@unesco.orghttp://www.unesco.or.id

LAPI-ITB

Krishna PribadiJalan Dayang Sumbi No. 7Bandung 40132Indonesia