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Regional Press Review: 9 February 2007
February 9, 2007
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This week:
Severe floods plague Jakarta, but hope floats amidst watery chaos.
And new Thai police chief must swim against the tide in his new role.
Welcome to the programme, I’m Joel Chua. And I’m Yvonne Gomez.
The massive floods that disrupted lives and displaced thousands in Jakarta this week were not simply the result of unusually torrential rain.
It was a confluence of nature, underinvestment in infrastructure and overcrowding that resulted in the high water levels.
Singapore’s Straits Times also cited another factor:
The Ministry of Public Works estimated that excessive concreting in many parts of the city has reduced water absorption capacity to 10 per cent, against 40 per cent 30 years ago. This is being exacerbated by the city's rivers and canals, meant to discharge stormwater into the Java Sea, getting clogged up with the detritus of a city exactly the size of Singapore but holding 12 million inhabitants.
The Jakarta Post concurred:
The fact is that in many parts of the city, poor drainage was responsible for the floods on Friday. If ever it was needed, this is clear proof of the flawed management of the city, as well as of the ignorance of residents on the need to keep their city clean.
The water, in parts of the city up to four metres deep, was putrid from the overflowed sewerage system. This caused serious threats of pestilence and diseases like cholera and typhoid.
The financial implications are also enormous. The Jakarta Post:
Thousands of people lost property and many roads and other infrastructure were damaged. These financial losses do not take into account the time and energy wasted by motorists trapped in traffic, or the lost productivity because many employees could not reach their offices.
But it’s in the darkest hours that the human spirit often shines brightest, as the paper noted:
There is, however, a bright side to the disaster. In a show of compassion, many people volunteered to help evacuate those whose houses were affected by the floods, while others donated food and medicine.
Even amidst the watery chaos, hope floats. As rivers and drains swelled their banks, a tide of human compassion helped stem the impact of the floods.
The Jakarta Post again:
Thankfully, civil society, defined as organized volunteer activities, has filled in the gap where the state has failed. This has been a spontaneous reaction on the part of the people. There was no command from anyone on high. There was no one giving orders. In most places, people just went and helped, as if each of them knew what was expected of him or her.
The paper continued:
Let's hope this spirit of solidarity continues as people clean up the mess left behind by the floodwaters and Jakarta struggles back to normalcy.
While the residents of Jakarta are cleaning up after the floods, the Thailand’s new police chief has found himself knee-deep in the work that inundated and overwhelmed his predecessor.
General Seriphisut Temiyavej was appointed to replace General Kowit Watana, whose image and credibility had been damaged for not being able to tackle a series of high-profile crimes.
Thailand’s The Nation noted the challenges that General Seriphisut faces:
Seriphisut's priorities include solving the New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok that killed three and injured scores of others, last month's grenade attacks on the Daily News offices, and the torching of more than 40 schools in northern and northeastern provinces since Thaksin's government was overthrown in September.
However, the paper also noted that in addition to professional incompetence, the ouster of the former police chief might have had political undertones as well, given Thailand’s recent coup.
By replacing Kowit with Police General Seriphisut Temiyavej, a senior adviser to the Royal Thai Police, the government has sent a clear signal that unless Thaksin's entrenched supporters within the police rank and file switch allegiances, a major purge against them may be imminent.
The paper felt that one of the obstacles hindering the new police chief’s work was the police force’s entrenched reluctance to cooperate with the military government. Changing the mindset of his top lieutenants and culture of the force he now heads will determine if General Seriphisut will achieve what his predecessor failed to.
During Thaksin's five and a half years in power, corruption and abuse of authority by officers in the national police force had become even more widespread than it already was. The only yardstick to measure Seriphisut's performance is how successful he will be in reducing corruption and cracking down on criminal officers so that a real effort can be made to reform the police force.
And that’s it for this week’s Regional Press Review. I’m Yvonne Gomez. And I’m Joel Chua for Radio Singapore International.
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