Just over 75 years after the 16 meter Situ Gintung dam was built by the Dutch, making a lake 10 meters deep. It had become surrounded by dense housing in Tangerang, greater Jakarta, right up to the main sluice gate. Land zoning had collapsed under urban pressures. The dam collapsed on Friday 27 March, killing almost 100 people.
You will not believe the power of what water can do, until you see it.
We visited the site, two weeks after the disaster struck, with cars and pick-ups loaded with food and clothes organized by a social club (KPC-Melati) of Indonesian wives and their husbands from UN agencies, NGOs, and the oil and gas industry, led by soap opera star, Tia Ivanka-Sotello.
Celebrities are important in getting the new Indonesian civic culture moving and several have been elected to the new Parliament.
There was no rain gauge and no adequate maintenance or alarm system. Reportedly the lake simply filled up in torrential rain and over-topped.
This unleashed about 2,000,000 cubic meters of water, smashing into the densely populated community of Cirendeu, creating a disaster zone 80 meters wide and 1.5 kilometers long.
The houses were hit after 4 a.m. by a wall of water three to four meters high, flowing for 15 minutes.
The water went through the dam like a knife through butter, leaving a canyon 70 meters wide and 20 meters deep.
By a miracle only just under 100 people died, although 295 families, comprising 1084 registered victims are effectively refugees, and 400 homes were destroyed, with1,600 people displaced and thousands affected. (UPI,28.03.09).
Local residents fishing on the dam raised the alarm, a siren was sounded and 50 families in the houses near the dam clambered to safety. But there was no warning downstream.
Members of nearby Depok city council demanded the inspection of seven local dams.
There are said to be 26 similar dams in Jakarta and 200 in the greater conurbation.
Edi Prasetyo Utomo, a senior geo-technology researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said an earth filled dam should not be surrounded by built up areas. Dams in similar conditions could burst due to lack of maintenance and monitoring. (Jakarta Globe, 31.03.09).
Berry Nahdian Furqon, the executive director of WALHI, a leading environmental agency reported six politicians and officials to the police for suspected negligence, starting with Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto. (Jakarta Globe 07.04.09).
The Minister blamed Tangerang District local government, for issuing permits too freely to convert irrigated fields into residential areas.
National Police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira confirmed "We have yet to conclude whether the incident was the result of negligence, and if so who was responsible". (Jakarta Post 01.04.09).
Indonesia is transforming from a deal driven society where corrupt politicians and public officials acted with impunity, towards a rule driven society in which rules and laws are enforced.
In the case of Situ Gintung, so that little children tucked up in bed will not die in what should be the safety of their own homes.
The wave of water that destroyed Situ Gintung and part of the community of Cirendeu is helping to reinforce a wave of change sweeping Indonesia, as its civic culture gets stronger.
Indonesia managed to double its individual tax base from 6 to 12 million registered taxpayers in 2008-2009. In the general election held on April 9, more than 120 million people elected 560 seats for the House of Representatives and 18,000 local government seats.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will have noted the wave of sympathy for the victims of the flood disaster. The message is clear.
No taxation without representation. No representation without accountability. Public services should serve the people.
But Indonesia is taking steps to achieve this with democracy and stability, alongside a 4.5 percent economic growth rate, while many ASEAN region countries are now hit by recession and political instability.
