Citizens Await State Support

Kompas/Dionisius Reynaldo Triwibowo

Children in Sungai Kaki village of Katingan Kuala district, Katingan regency, Central Kalimantan, fish in a river in front of their houses, Monday (5/6). In this remote village, dirty river water is still consumed for everyday needs, such as drinking, cooking, washing fish, washing clothes and also defecating. Health facilities are extremely limited and early marriage is rife in this village.

Umar Bakri, 44, appears tired after braving the waves of the Java Sea. He has just come home from taking his son, Bima, 4, to get medical treatment in Pagatan Hulu, Katingan Kuala, Katingan, Central Kalimantan. The Sebangau Jaya secondary community health center (Puskesmas) in his village has not had a medical worker for a long time.

It had been three days since Bima started vomiting, locally called muntaber. The sickness comes every year in Sebangau Jaya, Katingan Kuala,Central Kalimantan. Worried that his son was getting worse, Umar took him to the Puskesmas in Pagatan Hulu.