REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Jakarta province will work with social media group Twitter to disseminate information about floods in the capital city, an official said.

"We will work with a team from Wollongong University, Australia, and Twitter for developing this program," spokesman for Jakarta's Disaster Mitigation Agency Endang Achadiat stated here on Monda (1/12).

According to Endang, the members of the joint team will use special hashtags to collate information about floods from tweets posted on Twitter. The source of information will not only be the people affected by floods but also the people who might have just passed by flooded areas. The tweets will then be displayed on twitter account @petajkt or on http://www.petajakarta.org/banjir/in/.

"Information from twitter followers will help the government to reach humanitarian aid to flood-affected people faster," Endang added.

Earlier, Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, had said the city was ready to face any flood during this rainy season between November 2014 and January 2015.

"We are better prepared as compared to previous years. I have ordered the head of sub-districts in Jakarta province to dredge the river basin (in order to ease the flow of water to the sea)," noted Ahok.

Moreover, Jakarta's Public Works Office has reinforced the existing dams while also installing several water pumps, especially in areas such as North Jakarta that the floods will strike first.

However, Ahok explained that relocating the people living illegally along river banks had been a challenge. He added that the government had tried to relocate the people by building low-cost apartments in various areas in Jakarta. However, the construction work had yet to be completed.

Last year, Jakarta suffered material losses amounting to Rp20 trillion, or US$2 billion, due to the floods that inundated the capital city since January.

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