Tangerang faces border woes alone

Tangerang faces border woes alone

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang municipal administration continues to face problems
regarding the public services and facilities the city shares with
Jakarta, due to the two cities' common border.

Municipal secretary Harry Mulya Zain told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday that during his visit to Tangerang General Hospital on
the eve of Idul Fitri last week, he found that many of the
patients were Jakarta residents.

He added that most of the patients at Tangerang's public
health centers in Larangan and Cileduk districts, which share a
border with South Jakarta, are Jakarta residents living in
Ulujami, and Pesanggrahan subdistricts.

"We will write to the Jakarta administration requesting that
Governor Sutiyoso pay attention to this matter and work hand-in-
hand with Tangerang to improve public health services," he said.

Harry said the administration would propose that more of its
budget be assigned to the health sector next year. While Jakarta
would allocate city budget funds for the alleviation of the
medical expenses of poor Jakartans who were being treated or
hospitalized in Tangerang.

He said the municipal administration also planned to recruit
more health workers in a bid to improve health services after it
had established dozens of public health centers in 13 districts
over the past few years.

Separately in the day, Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim said that
the municipality had to bear a number of social problems emerging
from Jakarta.

"It would do no harm if the Jakarta administration cooperated
with us to cope with such problems," he remarked.

He said that one of the problems regarded the eviction of
Tanjung Duren residents in West Jakarta last year.

"The evictees moved to Batu Ceper district, creating more
population problems for us."

Garbage problems in the capital also gave Tangerang a headache
the past several months, since many garbage trucks entered the
municipality after midnight and illegally disposed of garbage at
Rawa Kucing dump in Neglasari district.

"The garbage truck drivers played hide-and-seek with us,"
Wahidin said.