Crash victims angry at govt's slow response
Crash victims angry at govt's slow response
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
It sounds almost biblical, but living in a stinking chicken coop was hardly a spiritual experience for Priono and his family.
But the three-meter by four-meter coop is all they have now, with their house, along with their three kiosks, being among the 30 houses destroyed by fire when a Mandala Airlines aircraft slammed into the Padang Bulan residential area on Monday, creating an inferno on the ground.
"The house and everything were burnt to the ground. What's left is the clothes we wear and this chicken coop, where we stayed last night," Priono told The Jakarta Post on the site of what was his house.
He was grateful, however, as all his family members were safe and alive as all of them managed to flee through the back door when fire blasted through the front of the house. Priono managed to go back into the house to get his daughter who was asleep.
Four tailors who rented the three kiosks he owned, which were located alongside his house, however, were burnt to death.
Priono said he was upset as the government was slow in handing relief efforts for residents whose houses were destroyed in the plane crash.
"Up until today, we haven't received anything from the government nor Mandala Airlines. Fortunately, there have been friends who have donated food, otherwise we would have starved," he said, angrily.
Along with Priono, other residents hoped that government or the airline would pay compensation for their losses.
The Mandala Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashed into the densely populated Padang Bulan residential area in North Sumatran capital of Medan after it failed to takeoff, leaving at least 150 dead and many others seriously injured, including those on the ground.
Some 30 houses were destroyed by fire, with six houses and three kiosks being totally burnt to the ground. Wreckage from the plane and burned vehicles littered the usually busy Jl. Djamin Ginting, which borders the airport.
Erni Josanka Ginting, 23, who lost her pregnant aunt in the fire as well as destroying her house and shophouses, said that her material losses were around Rp 3 billion (US$300,000).
She also bears emotional trauma, and has panic attacks every time she hears the sound of an aircraft.
Acting chairman of PT Mandala Airlines Indonesia, Maj. Gen. Asril H. Tanjung, said that the company would pay for any financial losses suffered by the residents.
"We will pay compensation. But now, our team is still calculating it," he said on Tuesday, while visiting the crash site.
During his visit to the crash site on Tuesday morning, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also promised residents compensation.
Susilo said that at the moment, the government and the airlines were still calculating the material losses suffered by residents.
"When the time comes, after the calculation is complete, there will be compensation," Susilo said during his brief 15-minute visit to the site.