Council on trip amid dengue fever

BEKASI: Bekasi City Council deputy chairman Abdul Manan harshly criticized on Friday members of the Council's Commission E on public welfare who were away on a trip to Palembang, South Sumatra, for a comparison study on manpower.

"They are spending too much money on the trip and ignoring the dengue fever outbreak here," he asserted.

The councillors, he said, had already been absent for at least one key meeting on Thursday.

Chairman of Bekasi branch of the Patriot Pemuda Panca Marga Organization, Sofyan Mochtar, similarly admonished the commission for their lack of concern for the people they represent.

The dengue fever outbreak in Bekasi has claimed at least 11 lives with the number of patients reported at 726 cases in total since early this year. -- Antara