THOUSANDS Of Balaroa Village Residents who were victims of liquefaction held demonstration demanding certainty of their rights and destiny, Monday (1/14/2019).
Residents who are members of the Balaroa Liquefaction Victim Forum visit the DPRD office and the Mayor’s office in Palu. This action was also continued to the DPRD office and the Central Sulawesi Governor’s Office.
In his speech, the victims of liquefaction regretted the government’s slow action towards their fate. At present, 107 days after the disaster, thousands of Balaroa victims still live in emergency tents.
“We refused the provision of temporary shelter (huntara) because we had not received any shelter for 3 months after the disaster. So we asked that we are prepared for our stay, “said Agus Manggona, Forum secretary in his speech in front of the Central Sulawesi Governor’s office.
The Balaroa community also requested that the funds for the shelter making budget be compensated to the heirs of victims of liquefaction.
Another Balaroa representative, Erfandi Suyuti, stated that the shelter that had been built for Balaroa residents seemed inhumane.
“Shelter conditions for victims of citizen liquefaction seem inhumane. Because they do not have boundaries in them. What about residents who have married
In addition, the victims of Balaroa liquefaction also requested the realization of compensation for the loss of life and damage to the house promised by the government. The compensation was considered to be able to ease the burden of the victims because all of their possessions had run out.
“Because the compensation can ease our burden as victims who have lost all their property and family,” he said.
At the governor’s office, the crowd was met by the Head of Central Sulawesi Province BPBD. While when in the Central Sulawesi Provincial Parliament, 25 mass delegations consisting of forum administrators and Balaroa community leaders were met by the Pasigala Disaster Management Special Committee.
In the action which began at around 9:30 a.m. – 1:15 p.m., the victims who lost their property and family read six points of demands to the government.
The six demands include, first; Residents of Balaroa liquefaction refused to be relocated to other regions. Second; The victims of Balaroa liquefaction refused Temporary Shelter (Shelara) and demanded the acceleration of the development of Permanent Shelter (Huntap).
Furthermore, the masses also requested that the Huntap budget is immediately compensated for the victims of Balaroa liquefaction.
The masses also demand citizens’ civil rights to land affected by liquefaction and compensation must be clear.
In the point of the five demands of the people, masaa urged the distribution of logistics / basic needs to Balaroa residents to be valid data based and distributed by the local government.
Then the citizens also demanded that the government immediately realize compensation for the grievances of the victims of Balaroa residents who died to the inheritance.
Responding to the demands of the residents, the Government of Palu City through the Head of Public Works Office, Iskandar Arsyad, who received representatives of residents explained that compensation for victims of natural disasters was the authority of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Until now, the data on the number of fatalities is still constrained.
“The Ministry of Social Affairs allocates around fifteen million people to the heirs of victims of the Palu city natural disaster,” he explained.
By him, Iskandar asked the mass representatives to be patient. So that the city government is given time to complete all existing data.**
Reporter: Firmansyah Lawawi
