A 3-year-old child drowned following two consecutive days of massive floods that were triggered by torrential rains in Bandarlampung city, Lampung. “There are still many boulders on top of the hill. We fear mud and rocks could hit our homes in the heavy rains tonight,” said a Pengajaran resident, Rosanah, 56. Another resident, M. Faqih, 45, said flood water and mud had swamped his home at 4.40 p.m. on Thursday.

“After the rain and water subsided, my house was filled with 20 cm of mud,” Faqih said. Faqih was unsure why Bandarlampung Mayor Eddy Sutrisno had given approval to develop the protected area. “Every time it rains heavily in Bandarlampung, we become worried that bigger floods will come. We demand the housing development project stop. If not, we will force the developers to stay at our homes,” Faqih said. Last October, residents and activists from environmental groups held a protest against the housing development because they said the clearing of an urban forest would damage catchment areas that are relied upon by thousands of residents in Bandarlampung. Indonesian Forum for the Environment’s (Walhi) Lampung chapter director, Hendrawan, said the Wednesday and Thursday floods in Bandarlampung were the worst the area had seen for 23 years. “Bandarlampung is apparently prone to floods every wet season, but never as bad as this,” he said. “The flooding this year is worse and more dangerous than the floods in Jakarta because Bandarlampung is surrounded by hills which are susceptible to erosion and landslides.” http://cempaka-nature.blogspot.com/2008/12/child-drowns-as-massive-floods-hit.html