The Demonstrators Of The Signature Of Accountability For Jakarta's PROBLEMs, Anies Baswedan, Rejected

The atmosphere when Anies met the demonstrators at City Hall (Photo: Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Participants in a demonstration that is part of the Jakarta Citizens Struggle Coalition (KOPAJA) asked DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan to sign a letter at a demonstration in front of the DKI Jakarta City Hall today. In the letter, Anies was asked to guarantee that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government would be responsible for Jakarta's problems and promised to transition the responsibility to the ranks of the DKI Provincial Government to be resolved. The offer of this accountability letter was presented when Anies held a dialogue with the demonstrators who voiced nine crucial problems in Jakarta to be resolved. "We ask Mr. Anies and Mr. Riza to sign this letter," said the representative of the mass action to Anies in front of the DKI Jakarta City Hall, Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, Friday, October 13. Anies rejected the request. Anies views that it cannot be that easy for the public to force the governor to sign an unstudied letter. "When a governor signs, it is not only read 5 minutes, 10 minutes, it is studied there is a process so that it can be accounted for," said Anies. "The point is I will not demean the governor's signature to sign something. Respect that, you respect that," he continued. The words immediately received cheers from the demonstrators. Some even seemed to hold back their emotions. Seeing the slightly unfavorable condition, Anies reminded everyone present to respect each other. "When you talk, no one cuts. So you also have to respect the rights of others," said Anies before leaving the action location and returning to the DKI Jakarta City Hall. Today, a group of residents on behalf of the Jakarta Citizens Struggle Coalition (KOPAJA) held a demonstration in front of Anies' office. KOPAJA stated that the drop out of Anies and Riza were deemed unable to fulfill their campaign promises and solve 9 problems which they repeatedly demanded to be resolved. In fact, KOPAJA has demanded Anies to solve these 9 problems since October 18, 2021. They have submitted a number of warning letters to the red report card to Anies. The following are 9 problems that have an impact on the feasibility of Jakarta residents and are required to be resolved by Anies: 1. Bad air quality Jakarta which has exceeded the national ambient air quality standard 2. The difficulty of accessing clean water in Jakarta due to water privatization 3. The handling of Jakarta floods has not been rooted in several causes of flooding 4. The lack of seriousness of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government in expanding access to legal aid 5. Weak protection for coastal communities and small islands in Jakarta Bay 6. Decent housing is still a crucial issue 7. Force evictions still haunt Jakarta residents 8. The maximum handling of COVID-19 and social impacts 9. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's lack of seriousness in protecting persons with disabilities.