Jakarta flood victims to get cash aid

Ahmad Junaidi and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Flood victims could feel some hope and relief after the Jakarta administration announced on Wednesday it would directly give them financial assistance to overcome the calamity that hit the city from Jan. 28.

City spokesman Muhayat said each damaged house -- excluding those built along riverbanks -- owned by poor residents would receive Rp 200,000 (US$19.5) in financial assistance.

"There must be thousands of damaged houses across the city. However, we have still to decide by how much they will be assisted by the administration or the government," he said.

The figure was much less than the amount of donations received by the administration recently.

On Wednesday, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah told reporters, after a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VII on Welfare, that the government would allocate Rp 11 trillion (US$1 billion) from the State Budget for social compensation and resettlement of the people whose homes had been destroyed by the floods. That amount, if it reached the target, could renovate a total of 55 million homes, as long as they only received Rp 200,000 each.

Bachtiar said his ministry would not specify details of the grants but would fully authorize the administration to manage them. A decision that caused controversy recently concerned an earlier payment, worth Rp 200 million, that is still in the account of the city's flood monitoring committee. It remains unclear where the money will go, either to buy food or repair houses.

There is no guarantee either that the full amount of the funds mentioned by the city administration will actually be disbursed in view of the lack of transparency and inefficiency that could well characterize the distribution effort.

As soon as Governor Sutiyoso announced on Monday the availability of Rp 505 billion in emergency funds, many agencies increased their budgets to restore damaged public facilities.

The long list of donors is getting longer, including a donation from former president Soeharto, through his Gotong Royong foundation, which handed over Rp 250 million on Monday. Some of the money would be used to repair 375 damaged houses.

The Ministry of Social Affairs handed over Rp 1 billion to buy food, including 50 tons of rice and clothing, to the administration last week. The Office of the Coordinating Minister of Security and Political Affairs has also donated 15 tons of rice and food.

A total of 10,019 items of new children's clothing and 100 tons of rice were handed over by the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare.

Regional autonomy has not weakened solidarity either, as the city administration also received 60,000 kilograms of salted fish from the Bangka Belitung administration. It also received Rp 50 million from the asphalt association of Buton island of Southeast Sulawesi.

Hundreds of thousands of flood victims have taken refuge in temporary shelters such as mosques, churches and school buildings. Most victims are still reluctant to return to their homes although the water has receded.

Since the flooding began on Jan. 28, many victims have criticized the administration for not lending a helping hand. Instead, they gave two thumbs-up to students, organizations, private companies and individual donors, who had quickly worked hand-in-hand to provide food and shelter for them.

Despite the donations received recently, many victims feared they would not benefit due to the inequitable distribution of assistance. Some shelters, at inaccessible locations, hardly received assistance at all.