Fauzi apologizes for gift handout chaos

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo apologized to all those injured Monday during the handing out of free gifts at an open house event hosted by the governor at City Hall.

Fauzi requested forgiveness from two hospitalized victims, Sateni (38) and Dati (50), when he visited them at Tarakan Hospital on Tuesday.

The two were injured when thousands of visitors to City Hall, mostly women and children, struggled to get one of 6,000 packages of staple foods (sembako) and  a Rp 40,000 (US$4) cash gift, handed out for Idul Fitri.

The administration would not organize another event of this kind in future, Fauzi said.

“I learned something from this unfortunate incident. [In the future], gifts will probably be distributed through subdistrict offices,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.