A writer I be followin’ on Facebook posted this yesterday: “I am one more catastrophic news event away from my goal weight. #kznfloods #ukraine #gaza #shanghai”. Two more hashtags can be added to that list: #philippinesfloods ‘n #indonesialandslides.
Seriously y’all, I get that global warmin’ is real, but famine, flu (‘n I use the term for alliteration only), ‘n floods? Is it ever gonna stop? The world be takin’ strain, ‘n it be the poorer communities that have the biggest sufferin’. My friend, Anne, who I mentioned in my previous post said they’ve been almost 9 days without water ‘n 2 days without any electricity supply. As if that ain’t awful enough, some government official annexed an entire water delivery truck for himself ‘n his family – while the constituents in the province are in dire need.Landslides hit a couple of places in Indonesia after tropical storm Megi made landfall at its Philippine neighbors, bringin’ a lotta rain to Indonesia. It seems that Java ‘n Banten Province were hardest hit. Many people have lost their lives ‘n many households have been affected.
When I be lookin’ on the map, I see these places ain’t as close to West Papua as I thought. It don’t mean that the people livin’ there won’t be (indirectly) affected. Resources that may have been earmarked for infrastructure improvement in that province are surely gonna be needed in the areas affected by the heavy rains ‘n landslides. In times of need, how the government manages assets to the benefit of its country’s citizens is uber important. Anne’s situation is case in point.All the stuff I’ve been researchin’ on Indonesia, with West Papua obviously bein’ the main focus because that’s where I wanna vacation one day, it does seem like the current government is doin’ a good job at lookin’ after it’s people, tryin’ to make life a little easier. In 2014 when the current president of Indonesia was elected, $22 billion (US) was budgeted for infrastructure improvement (throughout the country), ‘n from what I’ve read ‘n written ‘bout myself, it appears that the goal is bein’ achieved, a bit at a time. Deforestation is bein’ addressed, food’s bein’ made accessible to the people, telecom costs are down, ‘n tourism is improvin’. It’s taken time, but the positive changes are visible. Anne ‘n I were talkin’ and she says it’s taken Indonesia’s current government only eight years to bring about much-needed improvements for it’s people, where South Africa is almost worse off than it was almost thirty years ago when the current government came into power in the late 1990’s.I’m gonna keep my eyes ‘n ears open to see how Indonesia addresses the crises it’s experiencing now. In the meantime, I’m gonna continue to plan my vacation to West Papua. Nothin’ wrong with bein’ pro-active, right?‘Til next time…
Author: JS
Travel Vlogger, Journalist,
