JP\/5\/POOR<\/p>\n
Death awaits poor refugees in Ambon<\/p>\n
M. Azis Tunny
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Ambon<\/p>\n
It has been almost a week since two-year-old Salfiah Lussy died
\nat a shelter for displaced people in Ambon because her parents
\ncould not afford to take her to the hospital.<\/p>\n
The little girl is thought to have died from pleurisy and
\ncomplications from malaria. Salfiah's mother, Santi Lussy, 22,
\nearlier took her daughter to Al-Fatah Hospital in Ambon, where
\nshe was hospitalized for more than a week.<\/p>\n
But the cost of the hospital stay -- up to Rp 300,000 (US$33),
\nexcluding medicine -- forced Santi and her husband, Dahlan Lussy,
\n25, to take their daughter home.<\/p>\n
\"We had to take her home because the hospital was too
\nexpensive. We could not afford to keep her in the hospital,\"
\nSanti told The Jakarta Post at the shelter in Waihaong Park in
\nAmbon on Friday.<\/p>\n
Santi said her daughter may have contracted pleurisy from
\nsleeping on the bare floor.<\/p>\n
When sectarian violence broke out in Ambon on April 25, 2004,
\nshe and her family took refuge at the Al-Fatah Mosque. Salfiah,
\nthen one, slept on a mat on the floor with no blanket to protect
\nher from the cool night air.<\/p>\n
When she became ill, Salfiah was taken to the Waihaong
\ncommunity health center, about 100 meters from the shelter, where
\nshe was examined by a physician who did not provide her with any
\nmedicine. Instead, Santi was told to buy the prescribed medicine
\nand vitamins at a pharmacy. The physician only said Salfiah was
\nmalnourished.<\/p>\n
\"He told me to buy vitamins and medicine at a cost of Rp
\n17,500 at the pharmacy because they were not available at the
\nhealth center,\" said Santi.<\/p>\n
After a year of living in the mosque, Santi and her family
\nmoved to Waihaong Park, which covers an area of about 900 square
\nmeters. The building in which they live is occupied by 42
\nfamilies, or 180 people.<\/p>\n
The entire park is inhabited by 575 families. Santi's family
\noccupies a small room made of plywood, which contains only a
\nmattress and a mat. The couple lives there with their oldest
\nchild, Julkifli, 3.<\/p>\n
There are no cabinets for their clothing or any other piece of
\nfurniture. They keep their clothes in an old cardboard box. Two
\npieces of Koranic calligraphy and a clothesline are hung by nails
\non one of the walls.<\/p>\n
Santi is extremely thin and looks much older than her 22
\nyears, the result of the difficulty of her life.<\/p>\n
Her husband is unemployed so the family has to rely on Santi's
\nmother, Ona, 43, a widow who is also taking shelter in the park,
\nfor food.<\/p>\n
The last year has been an uncertain time for the family. There
\nis no more food aid and they are still waiting for promised
\nbuilding materials from the government so they can rebuild their
\nhouse.<\/p>\n
The overcrowded shelter has left people susceptible to
\ndisease. The rooms at the shelter are no bigger than three square
\nmeters but each room still houses two families in stuffy, damp
\nand humid conditions.<\/p>\n
Due to the lack of space, people do their cooking inside their
\nrooms, which fill up with the cooking smoke.<\/p>\n
Poor ventilation and waste disposal, as well as a clogged
\ndrainage system, have added to the unhealthy living conditions,
\nhelping in the spread of diseases like malaria, diarrhea, skin
\nailments, respiratory infections, coughing and influenza.<\/p>\n
The people at the shelter depend on community health centers
\nfor medical treatment because they cannot afford to go to
\nprivately run hospitals.<\/p>\n
However, the community health center nearest the shelter is
\nonly open for three hours, from 9 a.m. to noon.<\/p>\n
\"If someone is sick, we do not go to the hospital because we
\ncannot afford it. We prefer to go to the health center, that is
\nif it is still open,\" said Sia Arsyad, 42.<\/p>\n
If someone requires hospitalization, they can go to the
\nprivate Al-Fatah or Al-Muqadam hospitals, or to the military
\nhospital, if they have some money. But for those who cannot
\nafford to pay, they can only pray.<\/p>\n
Residents at Waihaong are afraid to go to the government-run
\nDr. Haulussy General Hospital because it is located in Kudamati,
\na predominantly Christian area.<\/p>\n
The coordinator of the Women's and Children Empowerment
\nAssociation, Baihajar Tualeka, said his group had repeatedly
\nurged the provincial administration to relocate the refugees
\nto better-equipped shelters.<\/p>\n
\"If they continue to live in these refugee camps, the
\nsituation will only get worse because of the poor social,
\nenvironmental and health conditions there. This problem is not
\nonly being seen at Waihaong, but in nearly every other refugee
\ncamps,\" Baihajar said.<\/p>\n
He said the displaced persons in the camps also needed free
\nmedical care.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5poor-1447899208",
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