City misses target in dealing with flood trauma
City misses target in dealing with flood trauma
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The three weeks of flooding across the city has caused many to
suffer not only physically but mentally as well. Some victims in
a temporary shelter on Jl. Dewi Sartika, East Jakarta, even
refused to return home although the water began to recede.
"No! I don't want to go back to my house," Tinah yelled when
met at the shelter. She refused to say further but only hugged
her 10-month-old son desperately.
Her neighbors, who are also at the shelter, said Tinah had
been depressed with the current condition as her family was
trapped by the floods before being evacuated to the shelter two
weeks ago.
Tinah had to struggle with her son to reach her roof as her
husband was working in Tangerang -- which is around 50 kilometers
from the house at Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta -- when the water
began to rise. They had to stay there for three hours in the
middle of the night.
Most evacuees at the shelter also refused to return home.
"If I return home, I'm afraid the flood will come again," said
Evita, a resident of Jatinegara, East Jakarta.
Evita and her family have been staying in the shelter for
almost three weeks. The mother of three has gone home three times
during the floods to clean the house and furniture. Her children
have begun studying at their schools.
"I want my normal life back," her 10-year-old son, Dedi,
complained, adding that he wanted to sleep in his room again.
Other victims expressed their frustration over the prolonged
flood.
"Of course I'm angry! I cleaned my house and all the furniture
for three days when suddenly the floods returned. I don't know
who to blame," Miana grumbled.
She admitted she became more irritable after the floods.
"Staying in the shelter with hundreds of people is definitely
uncomfortable," she said.
The victims' mental condition gave a new idea to Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso, so on Friday he announced that the City Social
Agency would provide psychiatrists and psychologists for them.
"The prolonged floods have distressed them. We hope by
providing specialists it will help relieve the stress," he told
reporters at City Hall.
However, the idea was criticized by experts and activists,
saying it was not a priority at this time.
Noted psychologist Sartono Mukadis asserted that the idea was
merely a reactive attempt to cover the administration's tardy
performance in response to the floods.
"What will the victims expect from psychologists if the source
of their disappointment is the administration?" he told The
Jakarta Post.
"Their expectation is the administration's form of apology.
The administration should have been able to cater to the needs of
the victims."
Sartono admitted that the victims were traumatized by the
floods but he believed they would recover soon.
"If the administration failed to support the victims, I'm
afraid they would not respect their leaders. Vandalism could
increase afterward."
Head of the Urban Division of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute,
Tubagus Haryo Karbiyanto, slammed the administration for having
no "sense of crisis" toward the victims.
"The victims need food, clothes, appropriate shelter and a
guarantee to resume working," he added.
He said the victims' stress would vanish if the
administration provided for their physical needs and guaranteed
to help them after the flood receded.
Tubagus said the administration had failed to provide a
contingency plan to overcome the disaster.
"It has so many officers in charge of the disaster. But they
failed to perform during the floods. Now, they only react to what
has happened."