On a gloomy Thursday in February last year, thousands of passengers who landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport found themselves stranded at the arrival terminals.
While they likely didn't consider themselves lucky at the time, they certainly were, because they at least were nearly where they wanted to be; thousands of potential travelers trying to head out of Jakarta could not get to the airport to catch their flights as the Sedyatmo Toll Road was under a meter of water.
Many expressed disbelief that a dedicated airport highway could be put out of commission by rain. Little did they know that the airport itself struggled to remain operational as its runways were flooded by 30 centimeters of water.
Airport, toll road and airline officials, as well as passengers, said they suffered losses ranging in the billions of rupiah. During the ordeal, one businessman failed to secure a Rp 1.2 billion ($101,000) deal because he couldn't fly to Batam Island to sign a contract.
TV news reports showed passengers venting about Jakarta's disastrous infrastructure problems. Attempts by Frans Sunito, president director of PT Jasa Marga, the state-owned toll road operator, to explain away the flooding only raised more questions.
"The Sedyatmo Toll Road is now two meters lower than its original position, so rainwater easily fills up and stagnates on it," Franz said at the time.
And why is the city's most vital toll road, constructed in 1980, two meters lower today? Apparently, the land on which it was built is sinking, which, combined with poor drainage in areas around the highway, including neglected canals and sewers that are now clogged, causes flooding.
Frans pointed the finger at big factories near the toll road, saying they extract excessive amounts of groundwater for their operations, which caused the land to sink. "That's why a policy is needed to limit water extraction," he said.
The toll road is equipped with large pumps to remove water, but the outside drainage system is not good enough to push it onward, so the water flows back onto the toll road, Frans said.
The blame doesn't stop there. Some environmentalists say the luxurious waterfront Pantai Indah Kapuk housing complex and business area near Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which opened in 1984, is also a main source of flooding on the toll road.
The 831-hectare enclave, known as PIK, used to be a mangrove swamp that functioned as a buffer zone for incoming sea tides and a vital water catchment area in North Jakarta. The construction project faced widespread opposition from Kapuk residents, environmental organizations and even the Jakarta administration.
The Indonesian Forum for Environment, or Walhi, and former Environmental Minister Emil Salim were among those in the forefront of opposing the project.
"The conversion of the swamp area caused 6.6 million cubic meters of water to lose its 'parking place,'" said Slamet Daryoni, director of Walhi's Jakarta office.
Among their main concerns at the time was that the project developers raised the land surface of the area by three meters, turning it into a gigantic dam that blocks flowing rainwater from reaching the Java Sea. The developers also built dikes along the coast to protect the complex from high tides, further complicating problems.
The Sedyatmo Toll Road was never hit by floods before Pantai Indah Kapuk was built, but now it's the first to be inundated during heavy rains, says Adie Maulana, a Kapuk resident.
However, Kosasih Wirahadi Kusumah, environmental manager of PIK, said the accusations were baseless.
"The airport toll road is subject to flooding because it has inappropriate drainage," he said. "The long water ditches along the left and right sides of the toll road are only two meters wide. So they cannot keep the water from overflowing. But the toll road's water ditches in the PIK area are 75 meters wide."
When showed a map of the 2004 Jakarta Spatial Plan issued by the Jakarta administration, Kosasih denied allegations that the construction of PIK did not comply with the plan.
"If it didn't, then it never would have gotten a construction license," he said, adding that the PIK area used to be shrimp ponds belonging to fishermen, not mangrove swamp. "So it is nonporous land. If it was [porous], then people would not be able to keep water in the ponds."
He also refuted claims that PIK developers had raised the land surface in the area.
"How much cost do you think is needed to raise the land surface of 831 hectares? That would be a crazy idea for business," Kosasih said. "The truth is we raised the dikes along the Cengkareng Drain that cut through PIK by three meters to prevent flooding."
Various media reports over the years have linked businesswoman Siti Hadiyanti 'Tutut' Rukmana, the daughter of the late President Suharto, and some of his other business friends to the construction of PIK. Former officials and environmentalists say this connection enabled the controversial project to proceed.
"PIK is an example of Suharto's 'KKN' policy," Daryoni said, referring to the Indonesian acronym for corruption, collusion and nepotism.
The completion of the first phase of the PIK project paved the way for other construction of commercial buildings in North Jakarta despite warnings from environmental groups.
"Both Jakarta provincial and central government officials are aware that some areas of North Jakarta should be free from commercial construction" under the city spatial plan, said Marwan Batubara, a legislator in the Regional Representatives Council. "The Jakarta master plan and regulations clearly say that. But you see, construction continues until today.
"We still see unscrupulous alliances between corrupt officials and greedy businessmen. Don't talk about a comprehensive solution to flooding as long as we see this," he said, though he refused to elaborate.
Sometime this year, construction is expected to begin in North Jakarta on the Bukit Golf Mediterania, a Rp 2 trillion development located within the PIK area. The project includes thousands of luxury houses, office space, retail outlets, hotels, a golf course and the largest water park in Asia, said Firman Todi Sarlito, project officer for the development.
For his part, Frans asserts that Jasa Marga is working hard to prevent the toll road from being shut down again by rainwater, noting that a recently completed road works project had raised the highway by two meters.
But with construction intensifying in North Jakarta, even a higher-elevated highway may not be enough.