Flooding poses threat to legislative elections
Indra Harsaputra, THE JAKARTA POST, Surabaya | Thu, 03/05/2009 1:50 PM
Floods threaten the upcoming April 9 legislative election in some parts of East Java, as local General Elections Commissions (KPUD) are unable to fold thousands of ballot papers due to a lack of public spaces, currently being used as refugee camps.
The overflowing Bengawan Solo River, the longest in Java, has caused flooding in a number of regions in the province including Bojonegoro and Gresik.
Because of the flooding, thousands of survivors in Bojonegoro have been forced to flee their homes and are now occupying the building that the KPUD initially planned to use to fold the ballot papers.
Chairman of Bojonegoro KPUD Mohammad Masjkur said the commission was forced to postpone the folding of the ballot papers because it had yet to find an alternative location to do so. "We are coordinating with the provincial KPUD to solve the problem," Masjkur said.
"Hopefully the flood is not expanding to other regions and the rain will stop pouring. Otherwise, it will disturb the commission's works to make the 2009 election a success," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The Juanda Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Surabaya predicted that light to moderate rain would continue pouring along the Bengawan Solo River from Surakarta in Central Java to Gresik in East Java until May.
"They have the potential to cause floods as some of the dikes along the banks of the river have been damaged by the previous floods and have yet to be renovated," Arief Haryanto, a spokesman for the agency, said. Chairperson of the East Java KPUD Nikmatul Hidayani said her office was coordinating with the 38 KPUDs across the province to make sure that problems - such as damaged ballot papers - would not disturb the preparations for the legislative elections.
Meanwhile, in Pasuruan, Ely Hariyanto of the municipal KPUD said his commission had received 6,233 damaged ballot papers. The figure could increase, he added, as of the 139,333 papers it received only some 90,000 had been sorted and folded.
Damaged ballot papers were also found in Bangkalan and Pamekasan, Madura Island. Sumenep KPUD member Muhammad Ilyas said his office received over 23,000 damaged ballot papers.
