Poor urban people involved in Jakarta’s flood handling

BERITAJAKARTA.COM (Indonesia): As the newest member in Steering Committee on a C40 (Climate Leadership) Group meeting, which focusing on climate change handling, Jakarta will take active role in the decision making on C40 Group meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 1, 2011. For start, Jakarta will involve poor urban people, who are the most affected by climate change, in handling floods as a form of attention for them.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said one of the climate change victim is poor people. Those who included in almost poor urban people category will include in very poor urban people category if hit by climate change disaster. Because of that, Jakarta Capital City Government continuously tries to deal with climate change threats quickly and effectively. This commitment is part of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target in alleviating poverty in Jakarta.

“Studies found that Jakarta’s poor people are a productive group and an integral member of this city`s economy. They are very agile and adaptive to the actions they took, either individually or within their community. But, they are also very vulnerable to flood risk impacts. They have contribution and important role in finding solutions to deal with Jakarta’s vulnerability to climate change disasters, so they must be involved in handling floods,” he stated, Monday (5/30).

…“Jakarta is experiencing rapid growth which has been able to provide opportunities for sustainable urban development, poverty alleviation and the ability to survive. Nevertheless, climate change is another threat from a variety of challenges faced by Jakarta, which is vulnerable to more extreme climate change situations,” he explained….

From the Tropenmuseum Collection, a photo of a 1949 flood in Old Balandongan in Jakarta