Fire victims left with no hot meals

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fire victims in Jelambar Baru subdistrict, West Jakarta, are in dire need of a public kitchen after the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) ended its assistance for the people on Monday afternoon.

Community leader Halimi said on Monday that a meeting on Sunday evening between subdistrict officers and community leaders concluded that the fire victims could use tents provided by the West Jakarta Social Affairs Agency for an indefinite period.

"But the PMI will only stay and provide us cooking utensils through lunch time (on Monday)," he said.

A PMI coordinator, Novel, confirmed that the PMI would stay only through Monday afternoon.

"But if the municipality administration wants us to stay longer, they can simply send us an official letter asking for an extension," he said.

Officers from the social affairs agency were seen distributing rice and instant noodles to the victims on Monday. However, most of the 290 families who lost their homes in a fire last Friday have no cooking utensils.

"We hope people in the neighborhood can help by providing cooking utensils such as stoves, bowls, plates, spoons and forks," Halimi said. "Otherwise, we can't cook the distributed food."

To fill the void left by the PMI, Suara Metro 911 radio station, in cooperation with the Obor Berkat Foundation, will host free medical examinations on Tuesday.

"We'll provide free medical treatment and medicine for those victims in need of them. For now, this is only scheduled for one day. If the number of people is huge, we'll probably extend the program," Abdillah, a Suara Metro 911 volunteer, told The Jakarta Post.

A political party has established a crisis center where people can drop off food, clothing or money for the victims.

Fire destroyed at least 290 houses on Jl. Jelambar Jaya 3 and Jl. Jelambar Jaya 4 in Jelambar Baru subdistrict, West Jakarta, last Friday afternoon, leaving more than 2,000 people homeless.