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.