Governor Fauzi Bowo's visit to Jati subdistrict offices in East Jakarta monopolized officials' attention, leaving residents waiting for services Thursday.

A resident, Adolf Hutabarat, said he spent about an hour waiting for an official he had an appointment with, as the official was busy meeting with Fauzi.

"I was told *by another official* the duty official was still in a meeting with the governor," said Adolf.

"The office should arrange for other officials to provide services to the public during the governor's visit, so we don't have to wait for that long," he said.

Another resident, Anton, also complained he had to wait for nearly two hours to arrange a certificate of good conduct.

"It usually takes less than 30 minutes to arrange this document, especially if the subdistrict head is available," he said.

"But today, I spent almost two hours here because I had to wait for the officer who was busy serving the governor," said the 72-year-old.

When Fauzi arrived at the office at 8:30 a.m., he instructed subdistrict officers to keep running public service as normal during his visit.

"Officials, especially in charge of public service, should be available. Don't neglect residents. Everything has to be normal while I'm around," Fauzi said.

Jati is the second subdistrict Fauzi chose as his temporary workplace after visiting Central Jakarta's Kenari subdistrict the previous day.

It is one of many subdistricts in the capital struggling with annual floods and many cases of dengue fever.

Jati subdistrict head Endang Febriyanti said water from Kali Sunter River often overflowed and swamped many areas across the subdistrict during the rainy season.

"My office is no exception. The flood water often inundates the front yard, with puddles up to 120 centimeters deep, while inside the office the water can be 20 centimeters deep," she said.

"There are many illegal shelters along the river blocking the river flow," said Endang.

"It's hard for us to clear the area, since we only have limited personnel. We hope the administration will lend us a hand to tackle this issue.

"So far, we have tried to prevent the flooding by urging residents to create biopores at home," she said.

Endang also hoped the administration would allocate more money to maintain the subdistrict office.

"We have a maintenance budget of Rp 20 million (US$ 1,915) this year. We actually need more than that because we want to improve our system to give our residents a good service," she said.

Responding to the reports, Fauzi said the administration would clear the area along the Sunter riverbanks.

"It's part of the administration's program to restore the city's rivers. It might be difficult to clear the area along the river but we should do it to prevent floods," he said.

"I believe the upcoming East Flood Canal *BKT* may also solve the problem," he added.

During his half-day visit in Jati subdistrict, Fauzi toured around the office and met subdistrict officers. He also used Endang's office to receive guests.

Unlike his visit to Kenari subdistrict office, Fauzi did not tour around the Jati subdistrict area nor visit public facilities, like the health clinic or puskesmas nearby, which would have given him a chance to meet more residents.

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