Jakarta – Jakarta may still be dealing with its four main problems – garbage, flooding, a poor health system and traffic jams – for many years to come, due to a distinct lack of professionalism, a city watchdog announced on Tuesday after unveiling a report.

"The administration should humbly admit that it has not been serious or professional enough in dealing with the problems," stated the 23-page annual report put together by the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) and entitled, Jakarta: A Megalopolis or A Dump? Since the same administration will be managing the city until at least 2007, "the conditions will not change much from that of the last few years," said Fakta chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan.

Also attending the seminar on the report, Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo argued that the administration was doing all it could to deal with the four key problems. "But it's like listening to the 1001 Arabian nights tales... there is never an end to it," he mused.

He said the administration was still planning to construct the decades overdue East Flood Canal as well as a long-planned reservoir in Ciawi, West Java, but explained that those things would not eliminate flooding as long as people continued to litter their environment so egregiously.

"There needs to be a change in people's attitude about the disposal of garbage," said Fauzi. "Floods and garbage go hand in hand." He explained that the rivers in the city were only able to flow at about 40 percent of their normal rate because they were clogged with garbage.

East Jakarta mayor Koesnan Halim, who was also invited by Fakta, admitted that about 70 percent of the residents in his municipality regularly toss their garbage directly into one of several rivers and canals.

Fakta stated that although Governor Sutiyoso had warned for years that everybody would soon be "sleeping on garbage", his administration had yet to resolve the matter, as evidenced by its failure to keep the Bojong and Bantar Gebang waste disposal facilities operating. Those two dumps are in Bogor and Bekasi, respectively, and local residents in those towns have vehemently opposed Jakarta's trash being dumped on them.

The report also blamed "the now yearly phenomenon of flooding" on the rapid construction of malls and housing complexes." It noted that there were a total of 12 new malls completed in 2004 and 11 more that were currently being built.

Fauzi Bowo admitted that the construction of buildings compounded the flood problem. "Those buildings reduce the capability of the land to absorb water," said Fauzi. "But there is nothing the administration can do to stop it. If we refuse to let them build on one site, they will simply find another."

The report cited health problems caused by the poor drainage and flooding that left water standing and provided an ideal breeding ground for dengue-carrying mosquitoes. It expressed concern over the dengue outbreak and the administration's failure to deal with it effectively.

Concerning traffic conditions, the report noted that although the administration had begun construction of an integrated transportation system, traffic problems would continue to exist as long as both police officers and motorists failed to obey the laws and drive responsibly.