The event, called Pesta Rakyat (People's Party), was part of a series of events held by Forum Untukmu Indonesia (FUI).

The event's committee had reportedly distributed several vouchers including one that could be exchanged for one kilogram of rice, three packages of instant noodles and one liter of cooking oil. 

The other voucher could be exchanged for a meal package and bread.

Dozens of people, mostly women, fainted from the heat after waiting for hours under the scorching sun. Many children were reportedly momentarily separated from their parents, as the large turnout was not managed with decent crowd control. 

Medical personnel were not on hand at the event to attend to the people that had fainted, prompting other visitors to help move them to less crowded areas.

“I myself had to wait for two hours before being able to redeem the voucher for the packages. Some others had to wait for more than four hours,” 50-year-old Joni Waluyo, a freelance photographer, said on Sunday. 

The massive number of people who flocked to the area caused traffic chaos and forced Transjakarta to reroute several of its bus services around the busy location. 

A large amount of garbage was also left behind after the event, prompting workers at Monas and the Jakarta Environment Agency to remain busy cleaning up the area long into Sunday afternoon, one day after the event ended. 

“We deployed 350 personnel to clean up the area and they began working Saturday night immediately after the event ended. There was still some waste left,” Monas management head Mundjirin said on Sunday, estimating that nearly 300,000 people had attended Saturday’s event. 

In addition to distributing free staple foods, other activities included a cultural parade, an Easter mass prayer and an inter-religious mass prayer, according to Jakarta Tourism Agency head Tinia Budiarti. 

The administration, she said, refused to take the blame for the negative impacts caused by the event. 

“The event was held by FUI and was neither initiated nor sponsored by the Jakarta administration. Therefore, we are not responsible for any positive or negative impacts caused by the event,” she said. 

“I never agreed that giving out free staple foods could be part of the event, because we didn’t know how many people would turn up,” she said. 

(Read also: Anies lifts Ahok-era ban, allowing Monas for religious rites)

Information about the event reportedly went viral through messaging app WhatsApp, which in turn encouraged people to come even from outside Jakarta.

Tinia said the committee had only proposed holding a cultural event when they asked for permission to use the Monas complex for the event. 

“If only the committee had heeded our suggestions or been honest about their intentions to distribute packages, we could have implemented a different strategy to manage the event,” she said. 

Prior to the event, the organizing committee had obtained a permit from the police.

The organizing committee head, Dave Revano Santosa, was not immediately available when contacted by The Jakarta Post for comment. (wit)

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