Flood victims complain about lack of aid
Flood victims complain about lack of aid
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
During their three days in an emergency shelter, at least
Muhammad Jaya and his family had enough to eat, even if the
quality of the food left at lot to be desired.
It was when leaving the shelter to go back home to the flood-
prone Kampung Melayu area, East Jakarta, however, that his
problems really started -- he found himself out on the street
with only three packages of instant noodles with which to feed
himself, his wife and four children.
"All of the food aid must have gone to Aceh," said Muhammad,
referring to the tsunami-hit province. "Things are real tough as
I have not worked in a week."
Muhammad is one of the more than 20,000 Jakartans who were
forced to flee their homes because of last week's flooding, at
least 9,700 of whom are from Kampung Melayu, the worst affected
area traversed as it is by the Ciliwung River.
As of Monday afternoon, 914 people were still staying in
shelters, while the remainder had returned home, most without
sufficient food supplies.
Like Muhammad, many other flood victims have been complaining
about the lack of food aid they received in the shelters compared
to previous years.
"We either ate chicken or meat everyday in 2002, and were
given clothes, cleaning utensils and even stoves," said Bari, who
is still sheltering in the Santa Maria school. "This time it was
only rice and salted fish."
Subdistrict head Lutfi Kamal conceded that the public focus on
tsunami-wrecked Aceh might have had an impact on the quality of
aid received by his subdistrict compared to the last major floods
in 2002.
However, he insisted that the food given to the evacuees was
adequate and denied there were any shortages.
"There is no shortage of aid ... but we are always open to
more donations. If they want better food, they should go to a
restaurant, not a shelter," he remarked.
"In 2002, a small number of neighborhoods received the bulk of
the supplies, causing some resentment among residents," explained
Kamal. "This time we have managed it better."
One of Kamal's officials, who requested anonymity, offered
another explanation as to why the quality and quantity of the
supplies were worse this time around.
"Last time, a lot of political parties set up shelters and
distributed aid to win over the voters," he said. "This time,
however, they were asked to coordinate with us. Most of them
refused."
The subdistrict has so far only received Rp 10 million
(US$1,123) from the city administration to deal with the
aftermath of the floods, while various city agencies have been
directly involved in providing aid.
"Most of the aid has come from private donations, however,"
said Kamal. "You can imagine how many Rp 500-cups of mineral
water we can buy with that money (from the city administration)
-- after all, we have 10,000 evacuees."
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
During their three days in an emergency shelter, at least
Muhammad Jaya and his family had enough to eat, even if the
quality of the food left at lot to be desired.
It was when leaving the shelter to go back home to the flood-
prone Kampung Melayu area, East Jakarta, however, that his
problems really started -- he found himself out on the street
with only three packages of instant noodles with which to feed
himself, his wife and four children.
"All of the food aid must have gone to Aceh," said Muhammad,
referring to the tsunami-hit province. "Things are real tough as
I have not worked in a week."
Muhammad is one of the more than 20,000 Jakartans who were
forced to flee their homes because of last week's flooding, at
least 9,700 of whom are from Kampung Melayu, the worst affected
area traversed as it is by the Ciliwung River.
As of Monday afternoon, 914 people were still staying in
shelters, while the remainder had returned home, most without
sufficient food supplies.
Like Muhammad, many other flood victims have been complaining
about the lack of food aid they received in the shelters compared
to previous years.
"We either ate chicken or meat everyday in 2002, and were
given clothes, cleaning utensils and even stoves," said Bari, who
is still sheltering in the Santa Maria school. "This time it was
only rice and salted fish."
Subdistrict head Lutfi Kamal conceded that the public focus on
tsunami-wrecked Aceh might have had an impact on the quality of
aid received by his subdistrict compared to the last major floods
in 2002.
However, he insisted that the food given to the evacuees was
adequate and denied there were any shortages.
"There is no shortage of aid ... but we are always open to
more donations. If they want better food, they should go to a
restaurant, not a shelter," he remarked.
"In 2002, a small number of neighborhoods received the bulk of
the supplies, causing some resentment among residents," explained
Kamal. "This time we have managed it better."
One of Kamal's officials, who requested anonymity, offered
another explanation as to why the quality and quantity of the
supplies were worse this time around.
"Last time, a lot of political parties set up shelters and
distributed aid to win over the voters," he said. "This time,
however, they were asked to coordinate with us. Most of them
refused."
The subdistrict has so far only received Rp 10 million
(US$1,123) from the city administration to deal with the
aftermath of the floods, while various city agencies have been
directly involved in providing aid.
"Most of the aid has come from private donations, however,"
said Kamal. "You can imagine how many Rp 500-cups of mineral
water we can buy with that money (from the city administration)
-- after all, we have 10,000 evacuees."