Sutiyoso, Suyudi admit poor response to flood problems
Sutiyoso, Suyudi admit poor response to flood problems
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
City Governor Sutiyoso and Health Minister Achmad Suyudi
acknowledged over the weekend that their subordinates were not
responsive and professional enough to properly deal with the
severe flooding which has wreaked havoc on much of the city over
the last three weeks.
"I admit our failure in that, in most cases, our health teams
only assisted the patients who came to our posts," said Suyudi in
reply to complaints about the flooding problems during a dialogue
with flood victims on Saturday.
"If I find incompetence in dealing with the flood problems, I
will not hesitate in dismissing them," said Sutiyoso in a
reference to members of his administration at the same dialogue.
The event was also attended by Minister of Education Abdul
Malik Fajar, and an acting Head of State Logistic Agency (Bulog).
During the meeting, flood victims protested that the
government did not do enough to help them.
Sarmidi, a resident of Cililitan subdistrict in East Jakarta
said that the flood victims in his area have yet to receive any
kind of support or donations from the city.
"We are only receiving food and other support from non-
governmental organizations, students, and individuals," Sarmidi
said during the meeting in Kuningan, South Jakarta, which was
organized by Government Watch (GOA).
Petrus, a resident of Makasar subdistrict, East Jakarta,
criticized the subdistrict's councils, known here as Dewan
Kelurahan (Dekel) for doing nothing to cope with the floods.
"Our homes have been inundated with floodwaters for more than
21 days; today, my house is still filled with water up to 30
centimeters deep -- but, the Dekel have yet to visit us," said
Petrus.
Kelik Waluyo, a resident of North Cipinang Besar subdistrict,
East Jakarta, also criticized the slow response of the health
monitoring posts, which were established by the city
administration's health division to cope with the flood victims.
"The posts must be more responsive to reach out to the
flooding areas -- not just to wait for the flood victims to swim
through the floodwaters to get to the posts," said Kelik.
In response to residents' complaints, Governor Sutiyoso asked
the residents not to be reluctant about reporting the
irregularities.
"I will impose a reward and punishment mechanism; no one will
be excluded if they are proven guilty," Sutiyoso pledged,
admitting that most in the city administration were not qualified
to deal with large-scale calamities like flooding.
He also emphasized that his priority would be to deal with
officials' irregularities in responding to the floods.
Although there have been no reports of Sutiyoso's strict
measures to the city administration's personnel, some of whom
have been found hoarding money and material intended for flood
victims, public anger has been everywhere.
The city administration had earlier siphoned off a Rp 50
million fund dedicated to flood victims, and disbursed to each of
the flood-stricken subdistricts across the capital.
But local newspapers, including The Post, have reported
alleged irregularities by the councils in the distribution of
funds meant for flood victims.
According to Ministry of Health data, as of Friday, there were
15,019 flood victims staying in temporary shelters in the
capital.
Since Friday, 22 people have died of diseases stemming from
the floods -- mostly diarrhea, upper respiratory infections, and
dengue fever.
Besides health problems, many schools had to close due to the
flooding. About 660 school buildings were reported to have been
at least partly damaged by the floods, while 62 schools have been
used for shelters for the evacuees.
"We have allocated Rp 120 billion to rehabilitate the damaged
schools and provide school items, including books and uniforms
for the students," Sutiyoso said.
Minister Malik added that his ministry has also provided a Rp
2.1 billion fund to help restore all material damages, so that
schools can return to their normal operation.