Thousands of houses in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, are yet again awash with floodwater, with North Samarinda and Samarinda Ulu the districts worst affected.
In North Samarinda on Thursday, floods reached heights of 1.5 meters, affecting 9,955 houses and obstructing daily life.
"So far there have been no fatalities reported from the disaster. We have recorded all the areas affected by the floods and at risk in North Samarinda," Samarinda administration spokesman HM Faizal said.
"We are currently still observing the situation in Samarinda Ulu."
He said that seven subdistricts in North Samarinda had been flooded: South Sempaja, Temindung Permai, Gunung Lingai, Lempake, Pinang Dalam river, North Sempaja and Bandara.
Three districts in the province were also flooded early this month after heavy rains poured down on the region for days.
"We have not been able to go anywhere since last night because our house and the access ways are inundated. My wife and I cannot go to work, and our children cannot go to school," said Firman, a resident of South Sempaja whose house was flooded Thursday.
Worst affected was Temindung Permai, an area near the Mahakam river, where water levels reached up to 1.5 meters. More than 4,000 houses have been flooded.
In Samarinda Ulu, floods blocked access to the shopping center in Jl. Ruhuy Rahaya, in front of Lembuswana mall, and Jl. Dr Soetomo. Also flooded was Mulawarman University, which canceled classes.
"The university has told us no classes today and tomorrow as the campus and its access are knee high in water," said Ayu, a student at Mulawarman.
Heavy rains and overflowing of the Mahakam river are said to be the main factors in the Samarinda floods.
The worst floods Samarinda ever experienced were in 1998, when almost the entire area was inundated by four-meter high flood waters and many lives were lost.
Separately, the West Java administration has said it plans to once more dredge the Citarum river to reduce the mass of sedimentation that contributes to the area's annual floods.
West Java governor Ahmad Heryawan said he had proposed Rp 80 billion in the 2009 regional budget to be allocated to flood management.
Heryawan said the excavation would be only a short-term solution to deal with the floods, which affect hundreds of houses and public facilities in East and South Bandung each year.
Relocation is expensive and not the administration's preferred solution, he added.
Another solution to cope with floods in Bandung is to cut the giant stone at the Citarum river, locally called Curug Jompong, in West Bandung, which is said to block the river from flowing into Saguling dam, he said.
But the idea has met with strong opposition by NGOs, which say it could damage the ecosystem.
Despite the opposition, Heryawan said he would keep trying to persuade the government to accept a Rp 400 billion proposal to fund the cutting of the Curug Jompong.
Iding Srihadi, head of West Java Water Resources Management, said the excavation and the cutting were short-term solutions to be implemented until the realization of the integrated Citarum water resources management program, for which the government has allocated US$150 million borrowed from the Asian Development Bank.