Flood civtims still need help, many forced to beg to survive
Flood civtims still need help, many forced to beg to survive
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Many parts of Jakarta have been flooded for the past three
weeks but as of Friday flood victims in certain areas have yet to
receive any assistance at all from the city administration. Even
though the water receded several days ago, a recurrence forced
many to once again seek shelter.
Without anything left, some victims have had to survive by
becoming unofficial traffic wardens, locally known as Pak Ogah,
or beggars to get money.
"I have no other choice. I've got to do something to feed my
family. We have nothing left as all our belongings were swept
away by the floods," complained Ugi on Friday. Before the flood,
he used to work as a gorengan (fried snacks) street vendor.
Ugi and his three friends are currently making the rounds at
intersections on Jl. Dewi Sartika in East Jakarta. A normal day
will yield about Rp 10,000.
Their existence on the streets is met with strong complaints
from motorists. The drivers usually are "asked" to hand over Rp
100 to each group of wardens each time they pass the group.
"They are so disturbing and they increase traffic congestion,"
complained a bus driver on the Pasar Minggu - Kampung Melayu
route.
To get additional income, Ugi asked his wife and two children
to become beggars at an intersection on Jl. Otista in East
Jakarta. Usually the family gets an additional Rp 10,000.
"We have to do this. We have to save money to enable me to
start my business again soon," said Ugi, who is now staying at a
temporary shelter in Kampung Melayu.
His house along the Ciliwung riverbank in the area was still
inundated by nearly 50 centimeters of water.
Similar stories were heard from hundreds of flood victims in
Halim Perdanakusuma area of East Jakarta who rely on assistance
from non governmental organizations.
The new floods have forced them to return to the shelters
although they had cleaned their houses just days before.
Sukro, one of the evacuees, confirmed that the administration
had yet to give any money to him.
"An official at the subdistrict office told us that the
administration would deliver assistance and set up a health post.
But it has not happened yet," he complained.
They have never received the supposed free medical treatment
in hospitals as had been announced earlier by the City Health
Agency. When they were sick, they had to actually pay for the
treatment at nearby hospitals or clinics.
The evacuees -- the total number across the capital reached
more than 380,000 -- could no longer expect assistance from the
administration as Governor Sutiyoso had revealed Thursday that he
was decreasing the amount of food, clothing and medicine
available to them.
Sutiyoso claimed that his administration was not able to
anticipate that the floods would last as long as they had.
The administration, which has received sharp criticism for its
overall performance, claimed to have disbursed Rp 8.35 billion
from the emergency fund bringing the total to Rp 40 billion sent
to 167 subdistricts. Each subdistrict apparently received about
Rp 50 million, and that money was supposed to be handled and
disbursed by the various subdistrict councils.
The accountability and the mechanisms to be deployed in
disbursing the funds remained unclear. Most of the council
members indicated they did not know how to use the money.