Few replies received by Fakta over jam, flood
Few replies received by Fakta over jam, flood
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The call to the public to file their complaints in regard to
Wednesday's nightmarish traffic congestion resulting from a
combination of flooding and an ill-prepared city administration,
has not exactly received an overwhelming response.
The non-governmental organization Jakarta Residents Forum
(Fakta), which started a complaint hotline on Thursday to gather
evidence for a probable class action law suit against the
administration, said only two of Jakarta's 8.3 million residents
had lodged official complaints.
Fakta chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan told The Jakarta Post on
Friday that the law suit would only be possible if enough
residents took a solid stance by filing their complaints.
"If we truly are concerned over the causes of the most recent
calamity, people must stand up and be heard so we can build the
law suit," he said.
The two citizens that did make their voices heard were from
the Green Garden housing complex in West Jakarta and Senen,
Central Jakarta, respectively. The Senen resident complained of
being trapped in a public bus during the gridlock while the Green
Garden resident complained that his car was mired for hours on
Jl. Gunung Sahari in Central Jakarta.
In addition, urban expert Lim Yung Kun expressed his readiness
to support Fakta in building the class action law suit.
Tigor said that Fakta would urge the city council to summon
Governor Sutiyoso for clarification.
"We expect our representatives in the council to put pressure
on Sutiyoso's administration to publish the details of its
standard operating procedures for dealing with floods," he
asserted.
The procedure must include details on how it intends to
overcome gridlock across the city each time there is a large
amount of rain.
Wednesday's mess, which left cars and people stranded all over
the city, in some cases well past midnight, was the worst of its
kind this year. The Great Flood of 2002 that paralyzed the
capital for more than a week, killing 30 and displacing over
300,000 was the worst in the last decade.
Residents can contact Fakta by telephone at 021-471-5730 or by
snail mail to Jl. Bojana Tirta II No. 1, Pisangan Timur, East
Jakarta 13230, to file their complaints.