VP blames New Order for nationwide flooding
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon
Vice President Hamzah Haz called on Sunday for a review of the current national development system following the devastating floods and landslides across the country, which have killed at least 150 people over the past two weeks.
He blamed former president Soeharto's New Order government for the nationwide flooding and said the corrupt regime should be held the most responsible for the disaster.
"It is extremely irrational if the current government is blamed. We need to say this not as an excuse to avoid responsibility," Hamzah told thousands of supporters of his United Development Party (PPP) attending the party's 29th anniversary rally in Cirebon, West Java.
"President Megawati (Soekarnoputri) and I are fully responsible for the efforts to deal with the flood disasters across the country," he added.
Hamzah said the badly thought-out national development planning and flourishing corruption during the New Order regime had both contributed to the government's failure to establish a development system to prevent such widespread flooding and landslides.
Around 150 people have been killed in two weeks of floods and landslides that swamped Jakarta and other cities across the country.
Hamzah on Friday urged the West Java administration to stop the development of luxurious villas in the mountainous resort areas of Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur in West Java, which has partly been blamed for the worsening floods in Jakarta.
"The West Java provincial administration must stop the development of villas because it is against the spatial zoning plans," Hamzah said after performing Friday prayers at the Al Falah Mosque in South Jakarta.
Hamzah reiterated on Sunday that the resort areas should again be preserved as water catchment areas in an effort to prevent more floods in the future.
"There should be no further development of luxurious villas or other projects that could damage the Puncak-Bogor zone. I ask that these areas be restored to their original functions as catchment areas. The New Order regime had neglected this," he said.
The Vice President further said the Soeharto government's move to centralize national development on Java Island had contributed to the disastrous floods in the region, particularly Sitobondo and Bondowoso in East Java.
"Corruption was everywhere so the quality of the development was neglected. One of the worst effects is the current flooding," he said.
On his arrival in Cirebon, at least 60 students staged a peaceful demonstration against Hamzah, accusing him of playing a role in contributing to the nation's bankruptcy.
The protesters cited as a reason the plan by the government led by President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hamzah to allow problematic conglomerates to postpone repaying their bad debts for another 10 years.
The government is seriously discussing the Shareholders' Obligation Settlement Program (PKPS), under which debtors will likely be allowed to extend the repayment of their debts to 2012.
The protesters -- suspected supporters of PPP Reformasi, a rival party faction led by noted Muslim preacher Zainuddin M.Z. -- said the PKPS was a proof that Hamzah sided with debt-ridden conglomerates, not the people.