TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of Early Warning and Extreme Weather Division of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Achmad Zakir, said the Jakarta floods are not caused by natural factors. This is based on the observation that the rainfall in the Capital last week was lower than last year.

"Precipitation or the peak of the rainy season— to be more specific—is not necessarily correlated with the floods," he said to Tempo yesterday. It means that infrastructural and environmental problems need to be taken into accounts, said Achmad.

Achmad compared observation results on rainfall by BMKG at 18 spots last year with this year’s observation during the worst day. There are nine spots in Jakarta, which had more than 100 millimeters precipitation level per day today. Meanwhile on January 12, of the 9 locations, only Halim and Lebak Bulus had more than 100 millimeters rainfall level.

According to Achmad, this year’s rain distribution is opposite to last year's. In 2013, Jakarta has received heavier rain than its satellite cities. "Meanwhile, in 2014, the distribution was not concentrated across Jakarta, but only in West, East, and South Jakarta," Achmad said.

Water management analyst Firdaus Ali also said that precipitation is not the main cause of the flood on Monday. "I’m not blaming the rain as the cause of the flood," he said. In addition to infrastructure, Firdaus said the poorly-managed drainage system is the reason.

ATMI PERTIWI |AMIRULLAH|JULI