Jakarta, <strong><em>NU Online</em></strong><br /> Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said the government was calling on the public to continue helping flood victims in Jakarta and surrounding areas.<br /> <br /> He said his ministry was only able to help 40 percent or 17,000 of the estimated 45,000 refugees through emergency kitchens in East Jakarta alone.<>&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /> <br /> Speaking to the press after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the presidential palace here Wednesday, he said "The rest of the refugees is expected to be helped by the public. The government thanks those members of the public&nbsp; who have set up emergency kitchens." <br /> <br /> He said when the emergency kitchens ran out of rice, the people in charge should inform the Jakarta social affairs office which would then arrange for replenishments. <br /> <br /> "The Social Affairs Ministry was responsible only for supply of rice while the provision of side dishes was the task of the city administration," he said as quoted by Antara.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /> <br /> According to Bachtiar, the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) still had more than 300,000 tons of rice in stock and was able to release whatever quantity was needed by the flood victims.&nbsp; <br /> <br /> The minister guaranteed that flood command posts and emergency kitchens did not need to go through unnecessary bureaucratic procedures&nbsp; to obtain rice for flood victims.<br /> <br /> The government had so far released&nbsp; 200 tons of rice for flood victims in Jakarta and prepared another&nbsp; 500 tons for further release when necessary. <br /> <br /> The minister admitted&nbsp; his ministry was still meeting with&nbsp; difficulties in the distribution of rice among flood victims, especially in the case of victims staying at locations hard to reach by normal means of transportation. <br /> <br /> He also said&nbsp; his ministry only had a small budget&nbsp; for disaster handling. For 2007&nbsp; budget funds for the purpose managed by his ministry totaled only Rp315 billion. <br /> <br /> Therefore, he said, his ministry was calling&nbsp; on the public to continue&nbsp; helping the flood victims. (dar)

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