Flood-hit subdistricts to receive Rp 50m each
Flood-hit subdistricts to receive Rp 50m each
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration announced on Monday its plan to
disburse Rp 50 million for each of the 167 flood-hit subdistricts
across the city, regardless of the level of damage in each
subdistrict.
"Our subdistrict, which has 10 neighborhood units that have
been hit by the floods, should receive more than other
subdistricts," chief of Mampang Prapatan subdistrict Sutarno said
in a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso.
Instead of explaining why each subdistrict will receive the
same amount, Sutiyoso said the aid would be disbursed soon.
"The aid will be disbursed tomorrow. I hope that it will help
flood victims," he said.
The meeting was attended by chiefs of all 265 subdistricts,
and 45 districts in the capital.
Sutiyoso said the aid would be managed by subdistrict councils
(Dekel) to avoid any suspicion of corruption by subdistrict
chiefs.
He said it would be up to the Dekel on how to use the Rp 50
million, whether it would be used to rehabilitate houses or
school buildings.
The money would be taken from the Rp 40 billion reserve fund
in the 2002 City Budget.
The decision to give the Dekel the authority to manage the Rp
50 million aid could create problems as many doubt the integrity
of Dekel members.
Most members, who were elected in a local election last year
as representatives of neighborhood units, are unemployed
political party members. They receive a monthly salary of Rp
500,000.
It remains unclear as to who is responsible should there be
any misuse of the aid.
The administration, however, denied that it was a shift of
responsibility from the subdistrict chiefs to the "public" or the
Dekel members.
"It's not a shift of responsibility. The subdistrict chiefs
should be responsible and monitor the use of the aid," the
financial assistant to the city secretary, Makmun Amin, said,
after the meeting.
Monday's meeting seemed to be "engineered" by the
administration to gain support for Sutiyoso, who has received
mounting demands for his resignation due to his failure to
control the flooding.
In the meeting, Pasar Minggu district chief Usman said that
chiefs of subdistricts and districts across the city should also
resign if Sutiyoso is forced to resign.
Some of the attendants applauded but some disagreed.
"I'll have to think twice if I resign. Don't be too
emotional," a subdistrict chief from South Jakarta said.
Some subdistrict chiefs also reported that their areas were
still flooded on Monday. They included Rawa Buaya in West
Jakarta, Cawang in East Jakarta and Bukit Duri in South Jakarta.