TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Fires have appeared to be a hot topic again after the head of the Democrat Party faction at the House of Representatives, Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, criticized DKI Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo’s leadership following the eruption of several fires in the capital city.
Many have deemed Nurhayati’s "heated" arguments as efforts to rattle Jokowi’s position as the capital city’s leader. The fires in Jakarta seem to have made their way to the top of the capital city’s ladder in attempts to ‘burn’ the seat of the governor.
"Let the people judge whatever Mr. Jokowi does. But the media and all must be objective, how Jokowi is leading (Jakarta) and what is happening now. The main (issues) are traffic congestion, fires, and 1,000 homes have been burned down. One thousand homes have never been burned down before," siad Nurhayati, as quoted by various media on Saturday.
The issue of fires erupting in the capital city could be considered as a "hot" issue that could be used to garner sympathy from the public or spread antipathy. The flags of political parties and pictures of politicians are often spread throughout the capital claiming to be aid posts. Near last year’s gubernatorial elections, almost all of Jakarta’s candidate governors used the issue of fires in their campaign. The city’s fires can even result in candidates using black campaigns.
Jakarta is currently ranked in first place as the city with the most fires in Indonesia. The fire Nurhayati was commenting on occurred in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, and burned down approximately 700 homes, resulting in some 4,500. The fire was projected to have caused the city to suffer a loss of up to Rp2 billion.
Up until September, there have been 647 reported fires in Jakarta in 2013. In 2008, there were a total of 818 incidents involving fires in the capital city. In 2009, there were 843 fires, 708 fires in 2010, 953 fires in 2011, and 1,013 fires in 2012.
Jokowi responded to this matter by saying, "And who started the fire? Did I start the fire?"
YANDI
