Seribu island teachers urged prompt delivery of rations
Seribu island teachers urged prompt delivery of rations
JAKARTA (JP): Teachers in the Seribu Islands expressed their long repressed frustrations to city councilors yesterday, saying the rice ration was difficult to fetch from Muara Angke, North Jakarta because of constraints on transportation.
"We must hire boats at Rp 300,000 (US$140.7) to bring the ration. For ill-paid people like us, it is almost financially impossible," Rohani told the city councilors from the welfare commission during their tour of the islands.
Rohani is the principal of the SD Negeri 1 state-owned elementary school of the Panggang Island neighborhood. He pleaded with the city councilors to provide ferries to carry the ration at affordable price.
He also asked the councilors to do them a favor and get their salaries as scheduled.
Ismail, who taught at the Tidung Island high school, expressed the same concern.
He asked that their salary and rice ration be delivered on the same day and called the authority to give premiums to high school teachers in very remote areas.
"If elementary teachers in remote areas can receive Rp 86,000 ($40.3) per month, the same policy is expected to apply for high school teachers," Ismail was quoted by Antara as saying.
The so-called "honorary teachers", on the other hand, grumbled that their promotion into permanent teachers was a long and difficult process.
"It's was our dream to become teachers. What we do in this remote place comes purely from our dedication," said Kris, a honorary teacher.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Principal of the SMA 69 state-owned high school, Iwa Kartika, deplored the current situation in which the school lacked teachers. He also said that there was no specialization for any of the instructors.
"A mathematics teacher may also teach economics," Iwa said.
Excited by the flurry of concerns voiced by their teachers, some SMA 69 high-school girls voiced their concerns about the poor conditions of the boarding house in which they lived.
"There is no gate so the cattle belonging to area residents often sneak out into our bedrooms," said Dewi Utama, one of the high-school girls.
Soegijo, chairman of the commission, promised to devise some solutions with the executives.
Housebreaking
City councilors were also informed that the Seribu Island residents were still averse to using water closets despite the existence of these facilities on the island, preferring to defecate in the sea instead.
"It's very difficult to make them stop the habit. The result is many residents contract diarrhea and dysentery," said Chief of the Panggang Island Subdistrict Mahbud S.
The district, consisting of 13 islands with 3,588 population, is categorized as being among the poorer areas.
Kelapa Island Subdistrict Chief Abdul Manaf, claiming most of 5,514 people living on the island were also avert using toilets, said, "A special approach is needed to turn them away from the habit. It takes a long time,"
He added a great number of the residents suffered from diarrhea and intestinal worms
According to Sonny LT, chief of the Health Office of the North Jakarta mayoralty, the main diseases permeate the Seribu Islands are upper respiratory tract infection (2,221 people), diarrhea (761), skin diseases (1,114), dysentery (204).
The high inclination of the diseases, he said, has resulted from their dependency on using rain for water and their habit of defecating in the sea. (jsk)