Banjarmasin stops flood emergency response status

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The city government of Banjarmasin has stopped the emergency response status for flood and high tide starting Thursday (Feb 11, 2021). The status started on January 15 when a major flood occurred.

Acting Secretary of Banjarmasin City Mukhyar here on Thursday confirmed that the status has ended that day after it was extended for a week.

Regarding the continuation of the flood disaster mitigation, he said, it has to wait for the instruction from the mayor of Banjarmasin. "The mayor is out of the city attending the Apeksi National Conference, we are waiting for his instruction," he said.

However, it is possible, he said, the status will not be extended considering the condition has improved, as there are no more areas that are heavily inundated.

According to Mukhyar, it is likely that the status will change to the transition stage of flood recovery. "The period of flood disaster recovery will last a maximum of three months," he said.

At this stage, the government will focus on post-flood handling. "Because a lot of infrastructures was damaged due to major flood, so all need to be rehabilitated," he said.

In addition, the city government will also take various steps to anticipate future floodings, such as the normalization of rivers and drainage.

As is the seriousness of the city government, he pointed out, it formed a task force for river normalization and flood handling. One of which by curbing buildings that block river flow.

"We hope the public will support the step because this is for us all," he said.

The city was hit by flood on January 14, 2021, a day after that a flood emergency response status was declared, because more than 100 thousand people were affected, especially in East, South, and North Banjarmasin.