Jakarta, Indonesia — An autism center launched barely a year ago was forced to stop its operations due to a failure on the government’s part to come up with the signed papers which are reportedly vital to the center’s continued functioning.
The center, located in Cipayung, East Jakarta, is run by the Jakarta Social Affairs Agency in partnership with the Indonesian Autism Awareness Society. The center was established by the Indonesian government in an effort to provide free assistance to low-income families caring for individuals on the autism spectrum.
But the sectors responsible for running the center were forced to stop their operations after failing to secure a signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) from the government’s Social Affairs Agency. Without which, the Cipayung autism center could not continue providing the free services they are meant to give.
According to the head of the Social Affairs Agency’s Child Rehabilitation Unit:
“The personnel changes at the Social Affairs Agency caused the signing to be delayed.”
The Cipayung autism center was established following efforts by then-Jakarta governor Joko Widodo. But incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said he was unaware that the center was experiencing problems at all. Purnama said that if only the administrators of the center reached out to him, he would have offered to help.
As of now, however, it still remains unclear if and when the center can continue its operations.
Source: The Jakarta Post: Legality halts autism center’s operation
