T. Sima Gunawan
As floods continued to cripple the Greater Jakarta on Tuesday, a Cabinet minister made a shocking statement that could hurt people's common sense.
"Don't blow up the reports on flood out of proportion," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie told reporters. "It should be handled properly, but don't react as if the doomsday is coming."<>
If this is not enough to make your blood boil, let's hear his next statement as seen on SCTV footage. "If you see the victims... they are still laughing," Aburizal added, grinning.
The words came out from his mouth in response to mounting criticism over the government's failure to anticipate the floods, thought to be the worst ever to hit Jakarta as it swamped around 70 percent of the capital's territory. Hundreds of thousands of people in Jakarta and its buffer zones have been displaced, lost their properties. Economic losses resulting from the disaster may reach trillions of rupiah due to the massive damage done on public facilities, infrastructure, not to mention the business opportunities lost.
Floods started to hit Greater Jakarta on Wednesday. At the beginning, the water only inundated the riverbanks and the city outskirts like Bekasi and Tangerang. More and more people were affected by the floods as heavy rains continued and Jakarta was finally paralyzed on Friday. In some area water started to recede early this week, but many parts of the city were still flooded.
Televisions, radio stations and newspapers extensively reported the disaster. For the whole week it became the headlines in the media. Some televisions aired breaking news and updated stories from time to time. Stories of flood victims along with huge photos were printed on the front page as well as other pages of the newspapers.
All the media ran sad stories about the tragedy. Millions of people lived in the dark and fell short of clean water as the state electricity company PLN cut the power in some 750,000 houses while the city water company failed to serve 66 percent of its customers. As the water also inundated telecommunication network, thousands of phone lines did not work and the Internet was disrupted.
Many roads were closed as the floodwater was too high for vehicles to pass, causing severe traffic jams in most part of the city, including on the toll roads.
The monstrous floods smashed shanties and modest houses of along the riverbanks but also exclusive residential areas like those in Kelapa Gading, which was one of the hardest hit areas.
But the most saddening news was that as of Tuesday, more than 50 people had died due to flood-related incidents like illness or being drowned and electrocuted.
The floods have left some 500,000 people homeless. Most of them are living in temporary shelters with poor sanitation and lack of food. They are now prone to diarrhea, leptospirosis and skin and other diseases.
The facts speak for themselves. Every aspect of the flooding could have made the headlines. Why should the media exaggerate the scale of the disaster? In reality, the flooding and its effects were so bad, sad, and awful that there was no chance for the media to blow the disaster out of proportion.
The fact that the accusation against the media came from one of the ministers responsible for handling the disaster is difficult to believe, let alone to accept.
Aburizal also urged the media not to report the disaster as if it were akin to doomsday.
Excuse me, Mr. Minister?
It is quite clear that he was not affected by the floods. He did not seem to be the slightest bit worried about the effects of the disaster. But for many people, the flooding felt like the end of the world.
The pain was unbearable, but Aburizal was not aware of this. "... they are still laughing," he said. Some children, indeed, looked happy playing in the water. Some people might also laugh in an attempt to console themselves, even though they are crying in their hearts. Aburizal could hear them laughing, but he did not hear the crying of people who have been made homeless and lost their belongings, and even their loved ones or friends.
The latest controversial statement should raise questions about whether Aburizal, whose family owns PT Lapindo Brantas, which has been blamed for triggering the mud-volcano disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, has a sense of humanity or any sort of empathy for the flood victims.
Aburizal is not alone.
It seems that many other high-ranking officials lack compassion for the unfortunate victims. Instead of taking action to alleviate the people's suffering, many officials have tried to avoid their responsibilities and shift the blame to others.
Jakarta's governor, Sutiyoso, was quick to say that the flooding was a natural phenomenon. He argued that as Jakarta was situated on a low-lying plain dissected by 13 rivers flowing down from the mountains of West Java, it was Jakarta's neighboring local authorities that were responsible. This was because they had permitted the uncontrolled construction of villas and other buildings in resort areas. He also blamed the central government for not providing enough money for the building of the East Flood Canal, which is expected to help prevent flooding.
His deputy, Fauzi Bowo, who is running in the Jakarta gubernatorial election later this year, concurred with his boss's view, saying that what happened in Jakarta was a natural disaster and that there was no way to prevent it. Floods happened everywhere in the world, he argued.
No government officials admitted to having failed to anticipate the floods and take the necessary steps to deal with the disaster. Despite what they say, however, they clearly have learned nothing from the big floods that swamped the city in 2002, and failed to heed to the meteorologists, who warned that the similar incident could take place five years later.
Instead of dredging and cleaning up the rivers, and improving the drainage system, the Jakarta administration has continued to allow the construction of new shopping malls, office buildings, luxury apartments and residential complexes. The rivers are becoming shallower and narrower, while the extent of Jakarta's green areas is continuing to shrink.
No one can prevent torrential rains, but the effects can be minimized.
The writer is a journalist. She can be reached at tabita@cbn.net.id.
As floods continued to cripple the Greater Jakarta on Tuesday, a Cabinet minister made a shocking statement that could hurt people's common sense.
"Don't blow up the reports on flood out of proportion," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie told reporters. "It should be handled properly, but don't react as if the doomsday is coming."<>
If this is not enough to make your blood boil, let's hear his next statement as seen on SCTV footage. "If you see the victims... they are still laughing," Aburizal added, grinning.
The words came out from his mouth in response to mounting criticism over the government's failure to anticipate the floods, thought to be the worst ever to hit Jakarta as it swamped around 70 percent of the capital's territory. Hundreds of thousands of people in Jakarta and its buffer zones have been displaced, lost their properties. Economic losses resulting from the disaster may reach trillions of rupiah due to the massive damage done on public facilities, infrastructure, not to mention the business opportunities lost.
Floods started to hit Greater Jakarta on Wednesday. At the beginning, the water only inundated the riverbanks and the city outskirts like Bekasi and Tangerang. More and more people were affected by the floods as heavy rains continued and Jakarta was finally paralyzed on Friday. In some area water started to recede early this week, but many parts of the city were still flooded.
Televisions, radio stations and newspapers extensively reported the disaster. For the whole week it became the headlines in the media. Some televisions aired breaking news and updated stories from time to time. Stories of flood victims along with huge photos were printed on the front page as well as other pages of the newspapers.
All the media ran sad stories about the tragedy. Millions of people lived in the dark and fell short of clean water as the state electricity company PLN cut the power in some 750,000 houses while the city water company failed to serve 66 percent of its customers. As the water also inundated telecommunication network, thousands of phone lines did not work and the Internet was disrupted.
Many roads were closed as the floodwater was too high for vehicles to pass, causing severe traffic jams in most part of the city, including on the toll roads.
The monstrous floods smashed shanties and modest houses of along the riverbanks but also exclusive residential areas like those in Kelapa Gading, which was one of the hardest hit areas.
But the most saddening news was that as of Tuesday, more than 50 people had died due to flood-related incidents like illness or being drowned and electrocuted.
The floods have left some 500,000 people homeless. Most of them are living in temporary shelters with poor sanitation and lack of food. They are now prone to diarrhea, leptospirosis and skin and other diseases.
The facts speak for themselves. Every aspect of the flooding could have made the headlines. Why should the media exaggerate the scale of the disaster? In reality, the flooding and its effects were so bad, sad, and awful that there was no chance for the media to blow the disaster out of proportion.
The fact that the accusation against the media came from one of the ministers responsible for handling the disaster is difficult to believe, let alone to accept.
Aburizal also urged the media not to report the disaster as if it were akin to doomsday.
Excuse me, Mr. Minister?
It is quite clear that he was not affected by the floods. He did not seem to be the slightest bit worried about the effects of the disaster. But for many people, the flooding felt like the end of the world.
The pain was unbearable, but Aburizal was not aware of this. "... they are still laughing," he said. Some children, indeed, looked happy playing in the water. Some people might also laugh in an attempt to console themselves, even though they are crying in their hearts. Aburizal could hear them laughing, but he did not hear the crying of people who have been made homeless and lost their belongings, and even their loved ones or friends.
The latest controversial statement should raise questions about whether Aburizal, whose family owns PT Lapindo Brantas, which has been blamed for triggering the mud-volcano disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, has a sense of humanity or any sort of empathy for the flood victims.
Aburizal is not alone.
It seems that many other high-ranking officials lack compassion for the unfortunate victims. Instead of taking action to alleviate the people's suffering, many officials have tried to avoid their responsibilities and shift the blame to others.
Jakarta's governor, Sutiyoso, was quick to say that the flooding was a natural phenomenon. He argued that as Jakarta was situated on a low-lying plain dissected by 13 rivers flowing down from the mountains of West Java, it was Jakarta's neighboring local authorities that were responsible. This was because they had permitted the uncontrolled construction of villas and other buildings in resort areas. He also blamed the central government for not providing enough money for the building of the East Flood Canal, which is expected to help prevent flooding.
His deputy, Fauzi Bowo, who is running in the Jakarta gubernatorial election later this year, concurred with his boss's view, saying that what happened in Jakarta was a natural disaster and that there was no way to prevent it. Floods happened everywhere in the world, he argued.
No government officials admitted to having failed to anticipate the floods and take the necessary steps to deal with the disaster. Despite what they say, however, they clearly have learned nothing from the big floods that swamped the city in 2002, and failed to heed to the meteorologists, who warned that the similar incident could take place five years later.
Instead of dredging and cleaning up the rivers, and improving the drainage system, the Jakarta administration has continued to allow the construction of new shopping malls, office buildings, luxury apartments and residential complexes. The rivers are becoming shallower and narrower, while the extent of Jakarta's green areas is continuing to shrink.
No one can prevent torrential rains, but the effects can be minimized.
The writer is a journalist. She can be reached at tabita@cbn.net.id.
