Mayor's disappearance puzzles legislators
Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
The disappearance of Surabaya mayor Soenarto Sumoprawiro is continuing to puzzle municipality officials and legislators, who held a meeting on Tuesday to seek clarification as to his whereabouts.
The meeting ended without any firm decisions been taken over the municipality's mounting problems, including garbage disposal.
"This is a very serious problem which could spoil the municipal administration's performance. How could a mayor go missing without anyone knowing where he is, while the mayoralty has a plethora of unresolved problems which need prompt handling. As the speaker of the municipal legislative council, I'm embarrassed to say that I have not been informed about the mayor's whereabouts. What would happen if the public were to rally at the legislative council demanding us to reveal where the mayor is?" said M. Basuki, the speaker of Surabaya municipal legislative council.
Mayor Soenarto disappeared two weeks ago. He apparently failed to tell his staff and legislators where he was going.
Officials known to be close to him have remained tight-lipped, while East Java's Governor Imam Utomo said he knew nothing about Soenarto's disappearance
"I don't know where he is exactly. I've heard that he had been seeking medical treatment," said Imam, without revealing what kind of illness the mayor might be suffering from.
Rumors have it that Soenarto is now in Australia on a visit to one of his grandchildren. Other unconfirmed reports have said, however, that he has been hospitalized in Australia for kidney failure.
A source told The Jakarta Post that Soenarto had been suffering from kidney problems for the last two years. "He had hemodialysis weekly at his official residence," the source said, adding that Soenarto had kept his illness secret from his family.
Municipal Secretary M. Yasin told councillors at the meeting on Tuesday that the mayor had joined delegates from the Association of Indonesian Municipalities on an official trip to Germany, Thailand and the U.S.
"They left three weeks ago after the permits from the Minister of Home Affairs were issued on Sept. 16. He (Soenarto) then continued the trip to Singapore and Australia. Before leaving, he told me that he had not had a general checkup for one year," Yasin said.
Basuki rejected Yasin's explanation as Yasin had failed to show the legislators a copy of the home affairs' minister's approval.
Yasin claimed that Soenarto could not be contacted abroad on his cellular phone when a legislator asked him to do so.
The legislators' disappointment over Soenarto's mysterious absence is compounded by the fact that there are many problems facing the city that need to be dealt with promptly.
Meanwhile, deputy mayor Bambang DH is presently in Jakarta taking a course at the National Resilience Institute.
The most crucial problem now being faced by the municipality is the question of garbage disposal as the city dump in Sukolilo has been closed by locals in protest against the municipality's failure to build a community health center for the residential areas surrounding the dump.
The municipality has also failed to install street lighting in the area as promised.