Jakarta Hospital on road to recovery
JAKARTA (JP): Repairs on the basement of a building at Jakarta Hospital in Central Jakarta, which was brutally damaged by military troops last Wednesday, are expected to be completed by next week.
According to Jakarta Hospital Foundation chairman Royono Murad, the repairs are totally sponsored by the city police.
"The police have compensated (for the incident) not with cash but by sending workers to fix the damage. Everything should hopefully be fixed by Nov. 1.
Then, we will begin to receive patients for surgery again," Royono told reporters on Tuesday after meeting with City Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djadjoesman.
According to Royono, Noegroho and his staff have been "quite responsive" in carrying out significant repairs, immediately after the military's attack in the late hours of last Wednesday.
As previously reported, the sudden attack -- said to be aimed at searching for runaway student protesters -- left sterilizing equipment for surgical tools badly damaged in the basement of the hospital building.
The military's brutality has triggered anger from several bodies and human rights activists.
Royono explained that the Jakarta Hospital had no reason or plans to sue the police. He repeated his remarks on Wednesday.
He made no remarks, however, on the alleged role and accountability of the military.
Noegroho was the commander of the joint security troops deployed in and around the Jakarta area during the recent General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.
Earlier, hospital executives said that medical surgery would be suspended for two and a half months at least, owing to damage worth some Rp 2.5 billion.
A fact finding team set up by city police to probe the case has not yet revealed any results of their investigation.
During the attack, the troops also beat and dragged away a number of people who they named as student protesters, eyewitnesses said.
The armed security personnel broke into the hospital's four- story administration building, broke the windows and doors and fired several gas canisters into the basement.
Four rooms used as the kitchen, administration, central sterilization for surgical equipment and laundry were heavily damaged during the incident.
Separately, the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo remained tight-lipped about the attack.
Subagyo enthusiastically answered all reporters' questions on Tuesday until the hospital matter was brought up.
He then simply rushed to his waiting car, leaving the journalists stunned.
A day after the incident took place, officer Noegroho initially said that he would not be held responsible for the incident, as the hospital tended to protect destructive students. (ylt/asa)