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.