Social Minister's Wife Gives Aid to North Jakarta Flood Victims and Evacuates Elderly

JAKARTA (February 28th 2020) - The wife of the Minister of Social Affairs, Grace Batubara, has again shown her concern for flood victims. This time, the flood-affected areas in the Cilincing area, North Jakarta are the Minister of Social Affairs’s attention.

"This is a routine from the Ministry of Social Affairs as well as OASE KIM where we have a mandate from Mr. President Joko Widodo, as well as Mrs. Iriana Joko Widodo, that the government must be present in every line of society experiencing disasters," said Grace while visiting the evacuation site in the flat. Embrio RW 04 West Semper, Cilincing, North Jakarta, Friday (28/2).

Grace said that every time a disaster occurs, in this case a flood, the Ministry of Social Affairs will continue to strive to meet the basic needs of the refugees.

"We from the Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as OASE KIM, came here to make sure that even though they are in a state of disaster, they are in good condition, their needs can be met," said the woman who is known to have a high social spirit.

The Solidarity Action Organization for the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet Era (OASE KIM) is an organization formed by First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo and Deputy President Mufidah Jusuf Kalla on October 27th 2014, which consists of assistants to the Working Cabinet Ministers, in which Grace Batubara is a member of it.

Accompanied by the wife of the Director of Social Protection for Natural Disaster Victims (PSKBA), Vinny Marliany, Grace greeted and had dialogues with residents, including children affected by flooding in the evacuation.

Entertaining and playing guesswork with the children seemed to be things Grace never missed when she was at the refugee camp. While handing over aid and a school uniform package, Grace also put it on to a child.

"We also provide psychosocial services for children because here a lot of children are affected, so we help them so that they can remain cheerful, not traumatized by this flood," said Grace.

So, he continued, hopefully (our) arrival can help, slightly lighten their burden. "In this case, the central government will continue to work so that this flood can be resolved quickly and well," he said.

The assistance submitted by the Ministry of Social Affairs is worth a total of 520 Million Rupiah for the DKI Jakarta Province. Meanwhile, West Semper Subdistrict, Cilincing District itself received a total of 54 Million Rupiah in assistance.

"There are 520 Million for DKI and 54 Million for those in this urban village which I have given directly symbolically, so hopefully it can help, it can ease the burden that is here," he said.

The assistance in question consists of 80 packages of food packages A, B, C, D, 100 packages of children's food, 100 packages of side dishes, 1,000 packs of instant noodles, 20 packages of family kits, 20 packages of kids ware, 10 sheets of roll tents, 20 units of mattresses, 15 packages of clothing, and 30 sheets of blankets.

After distributing the aid, using a motorcycle for Disaster Preparedness Cadets, Grace walked along Jl. Tipar Timur, Kampung Kandang to see firsthand the impact of flooding in the area.

After getting off the motorbike, Grace approached a rented house occupied by Grandma Asmiyati (64) who still survives in her house. The wife of the Minister of Social Affairs immediately handed over the help of fast food and mattresses.

"Hopefully you will stay healthy and the floods will recede quickly and you can get back to your activities soon. You will keep your condition," he said.

As is known, throughout early 2020, the West Semper area has experienced flooding four times. First, at the beginning of the new year on January 1st and January 24th.

Then, entering February, floods occurred again on the 23rd. Although it receded on the 24th, the water again inundated the settlements with varying heights on February 25th to 27th 2020 yesterday.

Evacuation of the Elderly

On the same occasion, Grace also visited residential areas that were still flooded since last week in Marunda Village. Even though the road to the location is a long traffic jam, this doesn't stop Grace's intention.

"Earlier I reviewed the flood conditions in this area, then I ventured to see a house that was inundated, the flood was up to my knees," he said.

In fact, Grace helped evacuate an elderly person, known as Ene Iti (77) who was still staying at her house. He admitted that he obtained information from local residents while inspecting the location. Without thinking, assisted by the Disaster Preparedness Cadets, he then moved the elderly person to a safer house of one of the residents.

"Suddenly there was a resident who gave information, there were elderly women trapped in his house. I then decided to see the woman, whose condition was very sad. We took the decision to temporarily move her to the residents house." said Grace.

Due to this incident, Grace appealed to the Social Services Agency to continue to monitor the development of the elderly, as well as ask residents to accept (accommodate) and take care of them within a certain period of time until their condition improves.

Before leaving the location, Grace fed Ene Iti with a plate of rice. According to local residents, he has been reluctant to eat since the floods hit his house, so Grace took the initiative to feed rice to him.