Fire victims submit to fate<\/p>\n
By Emannuele Annastashya<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For thousands of residents of West Pademangan
\nsubdistrict in North Jakarta, their dreams turned into nightmares
\non Friday night as fire engulfed their homes and all their
\npossessions.<\/p>\n
They lack the financial resources to secure new accommodation.<\/p>\n
Most of them were asleep when the fire, which in the end
\nconsumed 240 houses in the densely populated area, started late
\non Friday. Soon thereafter, they were forced to flee for their
\nlives.<\/p>\n
\"As soon as my son screamed there was a fire, I promptly
\ngathered my other children together and we fled from the house.
\nThe fire was spreading really quickly,\" Mutiem told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
\"It didn't occur to me to take my valuables ... we were in
\nsuch a panic,\" she added as she watched her husband Dirjomuryatno
\ngoing through the rubble of their former home.<\/p>\n
\"There's not even a single dinner plate left. We've nothing
\nleft,\" Dirjomuryanto said to his wife in dismay.<\/p>\n
Three people died in the blaze, 16 were injured and almost
\n2,000 were left homeless.<\/p>\n
Mutiem, Dirjomuryanto and their three children are now housed
\nin tents erected by city's social welfare office at a sports
\nground, which they share with other victims.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know what to do next, we don't have any money at all
\nto rebuild our house,\" Mutiem said.<\/p>\n
Her husband, who used to be an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver,
\nwas equally perplexed as his motorbike was also destroyed in the
\nfire.<\/p>\n
\"At the moment I don't have a clue how to rebuild our
\nlives ... we just have to accept it as fate,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Not far from where Mutiem and her husband were standing, a
\nteenager was pointing out her family home, now just a pile of
\nrubble, to visiting friends.<\/p>\n
\"I'm so sad that I no longer have a house. My parents told me
\nthat we are going to stay at a relative's house,\" Penny
\nSulistyani, 14, told the Post.<\/p>\n
Another group of teenagers from public school SMU 40 came
\narmed with exercise books and a school uniform which they
\nintended to donate to their schoolmate who's house was burned
\ndown.<\/p>\n
Upon handing over the books and the uniform to their friend
\nTeguh, one of the students, Nurhayati, broke out in tears.<\/p>\n
\"He's a dear friend of ours. I can't believe this is happening
\nto him,\" Nurhayati, who is Teguh's girlfriend, said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Teguh calmly received his friends' donations and
\nthanked them for their kindness.<\/p>\n
\"God willing, I'll be back at school tomorrow,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At the Pademangan sports center, there are four tents to
\nshelter around 2,000 people, and one makeshift kitchen set up by
\nthe Indonesian Red Cross.<\/p>\n
The fire victims shared two temporary latrines, which
\nobviously lacked running water as a number of people were seen
\ngoing back and forth with buckets to ensure a water supply.<\/p>\n
Food<\/p>\n
In the makeshift kitchen, which was swarming with flies, a
\nnumber of women were busy cooking food which would later be
\nwrapped in paper and distributed to the victims.<\/p>\n
In one of the packed tents, Kasinem, a mother of eight, was
\nbreast feeding her youngest daughter while chatting with other
\nwomen.<\/p>\n
\"At night, it's difficult to sleep because the tent is so
\ncrowded and hot,\" she said, adding that she and her husband
\nplanned to build a hut where their house used to be as they also
\nlacked the financial resources to rebuild their home.<\/p>\n
As for their future, Kasinem said they had not yet come up
\nwith a concrete plan as it was difficult to do so under the
\ncircumstance.<\/p>\n
\"Thank God our children were unharmed. I'm grateful for that
\nalone. As for the future ... I don't know,\" she said
\nsubmissively.<\/p>\n
The same thought was expressed by Sutarni and her mother
\nAminah, who has been living in the area for 40 years.<\/p>\n
Returning to their home village in East Java is not an option
\nas they no longer have anything there.<\/p>\n
\"All is lost. We don't have any money, we don't have anything
\nnow. I'm confused,\" Sutarni said as she dragged on her cigarette.<\/p>\n
\"All we can do is to accept this. Hopefully God will help us
\nsomehow,\" her mother Aminah added.<\/p>\n
Donations in the form of clothes, food or other essentials may
\nbe handed over directly at the site or to Radio Elshinta, Menara
\nIndosiar complex, Jl. Joglo Raya 70, West Jakarta (tel. 5869005).<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fire-victims-submit-to-fate-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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