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Medical treatment costs for most riot victims covered by BPJS: Anies
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Police fire tear gas at protesters during a riot near the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in Jakarta on May 22. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
J
akarta Governor Anies Baswedan has said that medical treatment for victims of the Jakarta riots is mostly covered by the National Health Insurance (JKN), with only a small number of victims covered by the city budget.
He said most Jakarta residents were members of the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), which manages the JKN.
“Most of the victims are apparently registered with the BPJS,” he said at City Hall on Friday as reported by tempo.co.
Anies said the city administration had allocated funds for those who came from outside of Jakarta and were not registered with the BPJS. The funds would come from the Jakarta Health Agency, he said, without disclosing the exact figure.
“There are procedures for everything in the administration. When we arranged the medical treatment costs for riot victims, we did not set aside a new budget. It had been allocated earlier. The number was not big either,” he said.
The two-day riots on May 22 and 23 broke out following post-election protests in front of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The riots, which saw protesters clash with police personnel, then spread to other areas, including Tanah Abang, Jl. Sabang in Central Jakarta and Slipi in West Jakarta.
According to data from the health agency, at least eight died and 737 others were injured in the riots.
The victims were taken to several hospitals, including Pelni Hospital, city-run Tarakan Regional Hospital and Dharmais Hospital.
The administration's plan to cover the victims' medical costs was met with controversy by some residents who accused Anies of siding with the rioters.
