LABUAN BAJO (UCAN): Residents and activists in Labuan Bajo, a popular tourist town in Indonesia’s Flores Island, have blamed a government project for unprecedented flash flooding triggered by three hours of heavy rain on January 20. Hundreds of homes were impacted. Floods also hit several other parts of the town, affecting five-star hotels, cafes, bars, restaurants, and shopping centres.
“This is the first flood in my life in this town,” Emilia Nimat, a mother of four in Cowang Dereng, a settlement in Labuan Bajo, said, adding, “This will make us always anxious in the future if it rains.”
She said that in previous years, despite heavy rain, there was no flooding in her house.
“We were shocked by this sudden disaster,” she said.
During the administration of former president, Joko Widodo, the town was earmarked among premium tourism destinations across Indonesia to be developed as a “New Bali”.
Local activists alleged that as part of the project, forest cover and wetlands were replaced with infrastructure, reducing water catchment areas.
There are even state-owned hotels built on coastal boundaries, inhibiting water absorption and blocking water flow from land to sea
Agus Fernandes, head of the Neighbourhood Association in Batu Cermin village, said narrow drainage channels caused the flooding in his area.
“If it rains with high intensity, the water overflows because the channels cannot accommodate high volumes of water,” he said.
He said residents opposed the government project, which prioritised development over the welfare of ordinary people and only benefited business groups.
“I hope the government will also seriously pay attention to our situation,” he said.
Villagers also pointed to a newly constructed elite residential housing complex, Royal House, which does not have drainage channels, causing water to flow into nearby alleys, gardens, and other houses.
Cypri Dale, a researcher studying development in Labuan Bajo over the past two decades, criticised what he said was poor governance.
“I was in Labuan Bajo when this disaster happened. Heavy rain only lasted three hours, but part of the town was flooded,” he said.
He said that Widodo’s chaotic development model and flooding are inseparably connected. For example, he said, the government turned Bowosie Forest in the eastern part of the city into a business hub.
In 2018, Widodo ordered the transfer of 400 hectares of forestland to the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority for the development of hotels and resorts.
“There are even state-owned hotels built on coastal boundaries, inhibiting water absorption and blocking water flow from land to sea,” Dale said.
He said it was deplorable that Labuan Bajo, “a city with great potential as a world-class tourism destination, is in danger of becoming a disaster-prone city due to wrong policies.”
Social activist, Doni Parera, said natural water absorption is poor in the area, which “has been filled in and converted into settlements, narrowing the river basin. The result is what we are experiencing.”
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency said the flood was triggered by heavy rain, and the impact of Tropical Cyclone Sean as it crossed the Indian Ocean.
“The public is asked to be aware of the threat of hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods, landslides, and fallen trees, especially in areas with a steep topography,” the agency said.
