38,000 families to suffer from floods

The city social welfare agency announced on Thursday that some 38,000 families would likely be affected by floods early next year.

The agency's social protection division head Nandi Tjaspandi revealed that the agency had proposed a fund of Rp 2 billion from the current budget to help flood victims.

"But the fund will only be enough to assist 10,000 of the most severely affected families," Nandi told reporters.

He said the fund would also be used as an honorarium for 932 volunteers that will help the victims, including setting up communal kitchens.

The Rp 2 billion fund is less than the Rp 4.5 billion fund that was collected during a charity night earlier this year for flood victims.

The Rp 4.5 billion fund became an issue when Governor Sutiyoso decided to hand over the fund to non-governmental organization ICE on Indonesia, which is led by television presenter Irma Hutabarat.

Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo announced on Tuesday that the administration decided not to use the budget to take flood prevention measures, but instead to make preparations to assist residents in 169 flood-prone areas. --JP