W. Sumatra prone to food shortage
PADANG, West Sumatra (JP): Hundreds of local officials were visibly stunned on Thursday after viewing a video showing severely malnourished children -- and hearing that the province was the most prone to food crises.
Inspector General of Development Fuady Risyad, who is a native of the province, told the gathering he personally recorded the images of children suffering from marasmus -- a nutritional deficiency which affects the skin and bones and causes distended bellies -- in the regencies of Pariaman and Sawahlunto.
"Now, who among you officials would dare to say there's no hunger problem in West Sumatra?" he challenged the audience at a gathering with State Minister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefudding at the office of acting governor Dunidja.
He described to the hushed hall how government officials hid the problem due to a fear their superiors would attribute it to their failure.
"I showed this video to President Habibie before I left for West Sumatra today. He fell silent, and then gave this donation of Rp 250 million (US$28,900) for hungry people in this province," Irsyad said.
Saefuddin revealed in his speech that as of April 5, West Sumatra recorded 2,825 severely malnourished under-fives, a figure far above the second ranked province of West Java with 174 reported cases of severe malnutrition. East Java was ranked third with 81 reported cases.
Saefuddin said the problem was urgent and needed immediate handling.
"Unfortunately, we often encounter officials who sugarcoat the problem and falsify data on cases of malnutrition.
"It's probably because they are ashamed or afraid of risking their positions."
Saefuddin, who was on a two-day visit, also brought with him a donation of 250 metric tons of rice for the province's poor.
Separately, the head of the provincial health office Rasyidah Rasyid said there were 22 fatalities of severely malnourished children, who succumbed to various infections.
"Our biggest problem is poor coordination among state agencies, followed by poor participation among people as shown by the fact that only a small number use the service of the integrated health monitoring service (Posyandu)," Rasyidah said.
Eating patterns
Rasyidah said the economic crisis changed eating patterns of many West Sumatrans, with many reduced to eating only one meal a day.
"Some babies have even been fed cassava with food seasoning."
Meanwhile, it was reported from the Central Java town of Rembang on Thursday that about 8,800 children under five years of age in the regency were undernourished due to the protracted economic crisis.
Most of the children were moderately malnourished, but 482 others were suffering from medium to heavy malnutrition while 18 were already marasmic, according to local health office chief Slamet Riyanto.
"We used to be appalled when we saw the pictures of hungry children in Ethiopia. Now our own children look like that," he said on Wednesday.
In Jakarta on Thursday, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Alleviation Haryono Suyono accepted the Singapore government's humanitarian assistance comprising 1,000 metric tons of rice and a supply of medicine.
Singapore Ambassador Edward Lee presented the assistance -- the fourth part of a S$12 million humanitarian assistance package to Indonesia announced last July -- in a ceremony at Haryono's office.
The first part of the assistance comprised 10,000 metric tons of rice, the second 4,000 metric tons of rice, while the third consisted of 1,000 metric tons of rice. (28/swe)