Elderly people die in queue for aid

Elderly people die in queue for aid

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post/Demak

Two people have died during the distribution of cash aid, the
first such case since the disbursement process began under a
government scheme to offset the effects of the Oct. 1 fuel price
increases.

Both Warinem, an 84-year-old woman who lived in Banyuwangi,
East Java, and Wadiman, a 75-year-old man from Demak in Central
Java, died on Friday after people in the queues they were in
tried to make their way to the front by pushing and shoving.

Warinem, a resident of Resomulyo hamlet, Genteng Wetan village
in Genteng district, reportedly fainted after queuing for the
cash aid with some 1,400 recipients at Genteng district office.

Her neighbor Jami'iyah told Antara she had pulled
Warinem out of the line after she complained of a headache. But
Warinem fainted and died on the way to a community health center.

Wadiman, a resident of Krasak, Sidomulyo, Dempet district,
died lining up for the Rp 300,000 (US$30) promised by the
government.

"Father was so happy. He left at 5 a.m., fearing he would not
get the Rp 300,000 because Friday was the last day to get the
money. If he couldn't do it today, he had to get it at the main
post office in Demak," said Waryatun, Wadiman's fifth child.

On that fateful morning, Wadiman left for the Dempet post
office some seven kilometers away with his son-in-law Kamisan.

At the post office, thousands of people were jostled together
as they waited to enter its 42-square-meter front yard.

Several police and military officers deployed to secure the
disbursement process proved powerless to restore order.

Wadiman, who was an asthmatic, fell and was taken to a nearby
house. But he died on his way to a community health center 100
meters away.

"He (Wadiman) was looking pale while queuing. He was starting
to sway, so I helped him out of the line," said Wadiman's
neighbor, Sukarmin.

Wadiman lived a simple life in a three-room timber house with
a dirt floor. The house is furnished only with wooden beds, the
mattresses of which are bare.

"We can accept father's death but father did not get the
chance to get his money," Waryatun said.

Signs of disorderliness at the Dempet post office were later
visible in its broken windows. On Tuesday, the house of an
employee of the Central Statistics Agency, in Kedung Karang,
Wedung, Demak was damaged by residents who were dissatisfied with
the registration process.

In Dempet district alone, 4,353 poor families were registered
to receive the cash aid. However, with only three days allocated
to disburse the money, hundreds of people turned up on the last
day.

Deputy chairman of the Central Java provincial council
Abdulkadir Karding visited Wadiman's house on Friday to express
his condolences.

"I regret what happened," he said. "People have died, in Demak
and Banyuwangi, all because of a lack of order."

He called on the government to cease distributing the cash aid
for the moment, using the interim period to improve the scheme so
that the money reached those most in need.