Donors distrust govt officials to deliver aid

Donors distrust govt officials to deliver aid

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The recent floods in the city have strengthened the indications
of public distrust in government officials, as almost all people
and non-governmental organizations avoided official channels in
making donations for fear of corruption or unfair distribution.

Many charitable foundations and individuals stated on Sunday
that they preferred to give their donations directly to the flood
victims, or at least through non-governmental organizations
(NGO), whose credibility had already been proven.

Such a condition arose following many reports from the public
and donors that not all of their donations had reached the flood
victims when they were delivered through flood posts established
by the government.

Ade Rostina of the Suara Ibu Peduli (Voice of Concerned
Mothers), a non-governmental organization dealing with problems
caused by poverty, cited the example of flood victims in Cawang,
East Jakarta, where local people protested that many packages of
donations had been piled up in the subdistrict office even though
they had been presented by donors almost a week ago.

In Marunda district in North Jakarta last Friday, people also
protested over the unfair distribution of aid as many had
received donations several times while others had yet to receive
anything from the local administration, which required that all
donations should be distributed through its office.

Similar protests also occurred in Pangadegan subdistrict in
South Jakarta, Semanan subdistrict in West Jakarta, and in many
areas of North Jakarta, such as Rawa Buaya and Penjaringan
districts.

"As the donors want to see that their aid is really reaching
the flood victims, they have to avoid the official channels
established by community heads and other official agencies in the
subdistricts," Ade told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

A similar experience was voiced by an official of People Who
Care, a charity movement which groups executive members of a
consultancy firm on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.

"We prefer to cooperate with a number of NGOs like Walhi
(Indonesian Forum for Environment) and Human Rights Support for
Indonesia, as we have to make sure that our aid reaches the flood
victims," said an official of the non-governmental organization,
who requested anonymity.

She said that in cooperation with the NGOs, her charity
movement, which had just been established in November, could
reach the victims directly.

In Karang Muara district, North Jakarta, a number of
organizations also refused to channel their assistance through
official posts on Sunday.

The organizations, including Bandung's Parahyangan Catholic
University, the Jakarta Institute of Art, and the Indonesian Red
Cross, distributed their donated food, medicines, and clothes
directly to the flood victims in the district.

Edi Harsono of the Elshinta We Care Program, a charity
movement organized by the Elshinta private radio station, also
said that aid from the listeners was delivered directly to the
public.

"Based on our experience since 1998, we have always delivered
the aid directly to needy people," Edi said, adding that over Rp
600 million had been collected from radio listeners since
January.