NGOS ESTABLISH BODY IN CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT DRUG ABUSE

JAKARTA (JP): Some 200 Jakarta-based non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) joined hands in a massive campaign against drugs by
establishing a consortium on Wednesday to consolidate all their forces
and resources into creating a drug-free capital, an official said.

"We realize that working alone is not enough to achieve our common
goal," Imron Fadhil Syam of the People Against Drugs (Geram) movement
told reporters at City Hall.

He said the group, namely Konsorsium Program Pemberantasan
Penyalahgunaan Narkotika, included various institutions, such as youth
and students organizations and antidrug organizations.

"We have three main programs to be carried out: community empowerment
programs, control programs and therapy and rehabilitation programs,"
Imron said.

Another executive, Tri Mulyati of the Wisma Adiksi rehabilitation
center in Cinere, South Jakarta, said the number of drug addicts
treated at the drug addict unit at Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta
increased every year.

"There were 1,779 cases in 1996, 3,652 cases in 1997, 5,008 cases in
1998 and 8,170 cases in 1999," she said, while citing Fatmawati
Hospital as the only hospital which had a special drug addict
treatment unit in Indonesia.

Quoting the World Health Organization (WHO) standard, Tri said there
were 10 drug addicts for every case reported.

"Therefore, based on Fatmawati Hospital's data, roughly there are
80,000 to 100,000 people with drug problems," she said.

Herman Soeparman of the Family of Drugs Addicts (KKN) said there were
more than two million active drug users nationwide.

"There are also some 4.5 million seasonal addicts, who use drugs on
certain occasions only," he said, adding that there were only some
10,000 addicts who had been rehabilitated.

He said Indonesia was one step behind Malaysia and Singapore in
handling drug problems.

"Malaysia and Singapore made sufficient preparations in the 1970s, by
establishing several rehabilitation centers," he said.

Malaysia, with a population of 24 million, has some 50 rehabilitation
centers, while Singapore has 15 centers with a population of four
million. Meanwhile, Indonesia only has about 20 centers for its more
than 200 million population, he added.

Subagyo of the Karya Bakti Foundation said the increasing number of
drug addicts showed the government's failure in handling the matter.

"It's partly because Indonesia is such a vast country with so many
problems. People use drugs to forget their daily problems," he said.

"Another reason is that we have improper facilities and limited
officials with sufficient skills."

He said law enforcement was very weak as there were loop holes in the
antidrug laws and regulations.

He also blamed the limited number of rehabilitation centers in the
country.

"Not all rehabilitation centers have a high standard of operation. We
will set up a standard for them," Subagyo said.

Tri said the activists had warned the government that the distribution
of ecstasy would lead users to heroin.

"The government didn't do anything to respond to the activists'
warning of ecstasy distribution. And now it's proven that heroin is
widely distributed here," she said.

She said it was expensive to rehabilitate drug addicts as costs
reached Rp 3 million per month, with a rehabilitation period of six
months to one year for each addict.

"We are trying to create a low-cost mechanism where low-income addicts
can be treated. We'll cooperate with local community health centers
(Puskesmas)." (05)