W. Sumatra prone to food shortage
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)