Poor villagers rally against doctor's transfer

BOGOR (JP): Hundreds of Mulyaharja villagers, mostly housewives, visited Bogor council office on Monday, asking for the councilors' help to cancel the removal of their favorite doctor from the local health clinic.

"We residents of Mulyaharja village, firmly disagree with his new assignment," Leni Herlia, spokesperson of the protesters told the councilors.

According to the villagers, doctor Abdul Mughni has been recently assigned by his superiors to a new clinic at another village in Tanah Sareal subdistrict, also in Bogor.

The residents said they still badly needed doctor Mughni and praised his work since his assignment to Mulyaharja village, particularly his efforts in identifying children with marasmus and searching for donors to help provide food for the malnourished children.

"He has worked very hard to help 17 children suffering marasmus in our village," Leni said, adding that seven of them later died but 10 have recovered.

"He doesn't sit in his office waiting for parents carrying their ailing children but visits people's homes to identify ailing children," she explained.

Before the arrival of Mughni, Leni said, no doctors were willing to be posted at the poor village.

"There have been only a few doctors who have visited our village, but they left immediately," she said.

Mughni also helped introduce new industry, such as making crisps and sandals, and ornamental fish pond husbandry, to many unemployed villagers, Leni said.

"He helped teaching of some 50 school-age students," she added.

"Therefore, we have only one request, that he remain with us at Mulyaharja. He, himself, has told us of his willingness to stay at Mulyaharja."

Mughni was not among the villagers at the council and could not be reached for comment on Monday.

In response to the villagers' request, some of the councilors invited a senior official for employment affairs from the Bogor Administration, Tasbi Hadi, to respond.

Tasbi advised the villagers, "The party that assigned doctor Abdul Mughni to move (from his post) was not the Bogor Administration office but the West Java office of the Ministry of Health."

The official, however, promised that his office would forward the villagers' request to the ministry's office soon.

"While we're processing the (recommendation) letter, he (the doctor) can return to work at Mulyaharja starting from tomorrow (Tuesday)," Tasbi said. (24/bsr)