City response to floods called slow at best

City response to floods called slow at best

JAKARTA (JP): The city's police and officials continue to come
under fire for their lack of preparation and poor ability to help
residents whose houses have been hit by floods.

Foreigners are among the many surprised to see how unhelpful
the police and military are during times of natural disaster.

"I read a warning from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency
after the January floods that another would hit some time in
February. It seemed to us (foreigners) that the military, police
and city administration still weren't prepared for the flood,"
said an Australian consultant, who asked not to be identified.

"Disasters seem to receive less attention than issues which
could have a political impact," he said. "I saw many military
troops and police officers around the court building before a
political trial. A large number are deployed on the streets
whenever people stage demonstrations. But I did not see many
during this weekend's flood scenes, despite the fact that a
warning had been given a month before."

"Who said we're not well prepared? We were trained to be alert
during any situation," city police spokesman Iman Haryatna said
yesterday.

Iman said that coordination meetings with city administration
executives and marines were held prior to the floods.

"We did not necessarily report everything to the public,
including reporters," he said. "People can say we are not well
prepared. But the police have gone all out, with the limited
equipment, to help the flood victims".

"No one can predict when a flood will hit an area. Some
newspapers don't even cover certain flooded areas. Let's be
fair," he said.

The spokesman for the Jakarta Military Command, Lt. Col. Didi
Supandi, told The Jakarta Post that his office did cooperate with
the city administration. Early warnings were also issued.

He said the military command sent 600 troops with rubber rafts
to help victims in last weekend's floods.

"We deployed 900 troops in last January's floods," he added.

Didi said the Army's organization of military wives donated a
ton of rice, 100 packs of instant noodles, 300 pieces of
clothing, 100 blankets and books to people in the Sunter Jaya
subdistrict in North Jakarta. (sur/04/bsr)