Many students lose uniforms, books in Sawah Besar fire

Many students lose uniforms, books in Sawah Besar fire

JAKARTA (JP): Many children whose homes were destroyed in the
Sawah Besar fire in Central Jakarta cut school as their books,
uniforms and money had gone up in smoke.

At least 200 students, 120 of whom were primary school
students, were among thousands made homeless in Kartini
subdistrict.

Ridwan Gozali, a subdistrict public order official, said
Tuesday several of the hundreds of elementary, junior and senior
high students did go to school but without uniforms or books.

"We have distributed all the donations we got but we still
need a lot more," Ridwan said, adding he did not know how many
students there were.

The fire destroyed around 126 houses on Jl. Lautze and Jl.
Laksana on Thursday and around 650 families are living with
relatives, or taking refuge elsewhere.

Rusmini, a mother of three teenagers, said Saturday her
children had to stay at a relative's house. They could not go to
school as they had neither money, books nor decent clothes.

"My eldest child who is in senior high school will have her
final examination in a couple of weeks. I just hope God will
show us the way to pass through all this madness," Rusmini told
The Jakarta Post.

Rusmini, who sold gado-gado (vegetables in peanut sauce) said
she could not save anything in the fire, which began in a house
just two houses away.

"I didn't even remember to collect the Rp 10,000 (US$4.13)
from the gado-gado sales in my drawer on the terrace," said
Rusmini who was alone in the house when the tragedy took place.

Several of her neighbors were staying with relatives, at
mosques or Buddhist temples.

At least 50 people, mostly mothers and children, were housed
in 36-square-meter tent set up in a temple parking lot.

Cholid, who was staying in the tent with his wife and two
children, said he was worried about their health.

"My children can hardly sleep at night because of the cold
weather and mosquitoes. This shelter is too small for all of us,"
Cholid said.

The fire victims in the tent had to move to the temple's small
terrace on Friday night because heavy rainfall had flooded the
shelter.

Like fire victims elsewhere, several tried to survive among
the ruins of their homes, in fear of scrap iron scavengers taking
their valuables.

The fire victims were allowed to rebuild their homes, said
Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi.

This was good news, but Rusmini asked, "From where do we get
the money?"

Each of the 650 families had been supplied with a plastic mat,
a sarong, a pillow and blanket from the city's social affairs
agency, said Sanusi, who was coordinating the contributions.

Sanusi said President Soeharto's second son Bambang
Trihatmodjo had also visited the fire site and donated Rp 10
million through the Golongan Karya branch in the area.

He said the money was mainly for food and clothing, and that
children were a priority. (04)