Sutiyoso shifts blame to subordinates<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso who is under fire for his administration's
\npoor handling of the recent floods has blamed his subordinates,
\nsaying they were unresponsive and lacked the professionalism to
\ndeal properly with severe floods.<\/p>\n
After talks with flood victims in Kuningan in South Jakarta
\nSaturday, Sutiyoso told the media that despite almost all
\nsubdistrict chiefs in Jakarta being university graduates, they
\nwere underqualified.<\/p>\n
\"As we cannot meet the expectations of the public when it
\ncomes to handling floods, we ask volunteers and other non-
\ngovernmental organizations to help us deal with the problem,\" he
\nsaid at the news briefing, which was also attended by Minister of
\nHealth Achmad Suyudi and Minister of National Education Abdul
\nMalik Fajar.<\/p>\n
Minister Achmad also acknowledged his subordinates'
\nshortcomings in assisting flood victims. \"In most cases, our
\nhealth teams only assisted patients who went at our posts,\" said
\nAchmad in reply to complaints by flood victims.<\/p>\n
\"If I find there was incompetence in dealing with flood
\nproblems, I will not hesitate to dismiss those involved,\" said
\nSutiyoso in reference to members of his administration at the
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, flood victims protested that the
\ngovernment did not do enough to help them.<\/p>\n
Sarmidi, a resident of Cililitan subdistrict in East Jakarta,
\nsaid that the flood victims in his area had yet to receive any
\nkind of support or donations from the city.<\/p>\n
\"We are only receiving food and other support from non-
\ngovernmental organizations, students and private individuals,\"
\nSarmidi said during the meeting in Kuningan, South Jakarta, which
\nwas organized by Government Watch (Gowa).<\/p>\n
Petrus, a resident of Makasar subdistrict, East Jakarta,
\ncriticized the subdistrict's councils, known as Dewan Kelurahan,
\nfor doing nothing to cope with the floods.<\/p>\n
\"Our homes have been inundated with floodwaters for more than
\n21 days; today, my house is still filled with water up to 30
\ncentimeters deep -- but, the council has yet to visit us,\" said
\nPetrus.<\/p>\n
Kelik Waluyo, a resident of North Cipinang Besar subdistrict,
\nEast Jakarta, also criticized the slow response of the health
\nmonitoring posts, which were established by the city
\nadministration's health division to cope with the flood victims.<\/p>\n
\"The posts must be more responsive to reach out to the
\nflooding areas -- not just to wait for the flood victims to swim
\nthrough the floodwaters to get to the posts,\" said Kelik.<\/p>\n
In response to residents' complaints, Governor Sutiyoso urged
\nresidents not to be reluctant about reporting irregularities.<\/p>\n
\"I will impose a reward and punishment mechanism; no one will
\nbe excluded if they are proven guilty,\" Sutiyoso pledged,
\nadmitting that most in the city administration were not qualified
\nto deal with large-scale calamities like flooding.<\/p>\n
He also emphasized that his priority would be to deal with
\nofficials' irregularities in responding to the floods.<\/p>\n
Although there have been no reports of Sutiyoso's strict
\nmeasures to the city administration's personnel, some of whom
\nhave been found hoarding money and material intended for flood
\nvictims, public anger has been everywhere.<\/p>\n
The city administration has allocated Rp 50 million to each
\nflood-affected subdistrict to help flood victims across the
\ncapital.<\/p>\n
But there have been allegations of irregularities in the
\ndistribution of funds meant for flood victims.<\/p>\n
According to Ministry of Health data, as of Friday, 15,019
\nflood victims were staying in temporary shelters in the capital.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two people had died of flood-related diseases -- mostly
\ndiarrhea, upper respiratory infections and dengue fever.<\/p>\n
Besides health problems, many schools had to close due to the
\nflooding. About 660 school buildings were reported to have been
\nat least partly damaged by the floods, while 62 schools have been
\nused for shelters for the evacuees.<\/p>\n
\"We have allocated Rp 120 billion to rehabilitate the damaged
\nschools and provide school items, including books and uniforms
\nfor the students,\" Sutiyoso said.<\/p>\n
Malik Fajar added that his ministry had also provided Rp 2.1
\nbillion to help restore all material damages, so that schools
\ncould return to normal operation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sutiyoso-shifts-blame-to-subordinates-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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