Scholars accuse officials of 'living in denial'

Scholars accuse officials of 'living in denial'

JAKARTA (JP): Two leading scholars have blasted government
officials for "burying their heads in the sand" and living in
denial when faced with crises.

Sociologist Loekman Soetrisno of Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta and Abdurrahman Wahid of the Moslem organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) said the habit failed to solve problems.

"Such an attitude does not bode well for us as a nation,"
Loekman told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Loekman cited as an example the way some officials treat the
monetary crisis.

"We had been claiming that the fundamentals of our economy
were strong when in fact they were not," he said. "This habit of
denial is demonstrated not just by officials but by us as a
nation."

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, said officials refused
to face up to reality and even tended to cover it up.

"This is a mistake and it does not solve any problems wrought
by the present crisis," he was quoted by Antara as saying in an
address to hundreds of people joining the Friday prayer at
Takhobbar Mosque in Surabaya, East Java.

"When facing a crisis, we behave like an ostrich... we
pretend there's no problem... we bury our heads in the sand."

The food crisis affecting many areas of Indonesia is another
problem that has been dismissed by government officials, he said.

Abdurrahman fell short of naming officials or famine-stricken
areas, but it has been reported that almost 700 people have died
of drought-related illnesses and food shortage in Irian Jaya,
while tens of thousands of others face the same threat in Maluku.

Both men argued that, on occasions, local officials in the
affected areas had also denied there was a problem. Some of them
claimed that their districts did not suffer from food shortages
and supply was in abundance, but people became sick or died
because they could not afford to buy food.

A number of countries, including the United States, Japan,
Australia, Germany and Norway have been sending relief to
drought-stricken areas in Irian Jaya.

According to Abdurrahman, some government officials in areas
suffering from food shortages were baffled by the crisis and have
been unable to cope.

"But it was a very strange thing when they stopped the
incoming foreign relief ... it's as if they were too scared to
have people discover that there had been famine in their areas,"
he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He pointed out that officials should, instead, use common
sense and investigate what had caused the food crisis. He named
forest fires and the prolonged dry season as being among the
causes.

"When facing that kind of problem, we must not pretend that we
know everything when in fact we're confused. We need to work
together to face the crisis," Abdurrahman said.

During his address, he also called on Moslems -- who make up
87 percent of the total population of 200 million -- across the
country not to panic in the face of possible food crisis in the
next few months.

The imminent threat of food shortage must be overcome together
with "a strong will, patience and diligence" as taught in Islam,
he said.

Abdurrahman suggested that one of the measures to cope with
the crisis was for people with surplus food to share it with
those in need. (aan)