Fears corruption will swallow quake money

6 Oct 2009, 8:03 pm   -   Source: AFP
0 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
0
There are fears large parts of the money set aside for earthquake victims will get lost to corruption (EPA)

There are fears large parts of the money set aside for earthquake victims will get lost to corruption (EPA)

Many Indonesians fear government aid money set aside to help victims of last week's massive earthquake in Sumatra will be lost to corruption.

RELATED

Indonesian housewife Edib Mulyati stands in the ruins of her quake-hit house and smiles bitterly at the government's promises of aid, saying most of it will be lost to corruption.
   
Married to a low-ranking civil servant, she knows how the system works and expects nothing more than a trickle of funds to reach those most in need after the money passes through the various levels of government.
   
"It gets thinner and thinner and then just a mouse's tail comes out the bottom. That's Indonesia," she told AFP in the village of Bunga Pasang on the outskirts of the worst-hit city of Padang.

High levels of corruption
   
Indonesia, a developing nation of 234 million people, ranks 126th on a corruption perceptions index compiled by watchdog Transparency International,  putting it on par with African nations Uganda and Libya.
   
The government has pledged 6.0 trillion rupiah ($A 708 million) for reconstruction efforts in West Sumatra where up to 200,000 homes are estimated to have been damaged in last week's 7.6-magnitude quake.
   
In Mulyati's house, the family of four has abandoned the wrecked inner rooms for the relative safety of the front loungeroom, where they sleep with the front door wide open in case they need to make a quick escape.
   
Her husband, who declined to be named in fear for his job, said his family was already 75 million rupiah in debt and could not afford to rebuild without the help of the government.

Promises 'different' from reality
   
"I've heard the government wants to give out aid but we're not convinced we're going to get it," he said.
   
"The ministers at the centre said the assistance won't be skimmed. But in reality it is."
   
Security guard Ali Lintar, a 36-year-old whose extended family's four homes were levelled in the quake, said he had first-hand experience of how aid vanished on its way to the needy.
   
When his simple home was toppled by quakes that struck further south on Sumatra island in 2007, Lintar was promised 15 million rupiah ($A 1,771) to rebuild, but he says he got half that amount.

Desire to rebuild
   
"I want to rebuild but I don't have the money," he said at the front door of his mother's crumpled brick and aluminium sheeting home.
   
"Maybe there'll be government help, we hope. If there isn't, we're already poor, so we'll live in tents," said Lintar, who earns about one million rupiah a month.
   
Padang's mayor, Fauzi Bahar, promises a prompt response and says the aid will reach people like Lintar and others made homeless.
   
"I guarantee 100 percent that there's no such thing as corruption and will never be," he said.
   
"We'll spend all donations and funds on the people. We won't misuse them and let our people suffer."
   
Lintar's mother, 50-year-old Eti Aslyarti, said the initial reaction had been far from reassuring.

Donations of rice
   
A few Red Cross workers passed through to survey the damage and then a handful of government officials appeared to hand everyone a single small packet of cooked rice.
   
"Five minutes and they were out," she said bitterly.
   
Next door, beneath a precariously leaning two-storey home of concrete and pastel walls, 47-year-old policeman Eroplis sobbed as he recounted how much he has lost.
   
"For 24 years I worked, I saved and I saved," he said, placing his head in his hands.
   
"I still will rebuild. I'll borrow from whatever bank to rebuild. Even after I die, I want to leave it to my children to live out their lives.
   
"In this catastrophe, if they want to help us, they should put the money right into our hands."

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.