Over two decades and 37 surgeries on, Chusnul Chotimah is still reeling from the night she survived the Bali bombing, which killed 202 in one of the world’s deadliest militant attacks.
Covered in burn scars, Chusnul, 55, now fears losing access to life-saving treatments after Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced US$19 billion in budget cuts to fund his election promises, such as school lunches, a move economists say could disrupt services in the Southeast Asian nation and crimp economic growth.
The 2002 blasts targeting nightclubs in the Kuta Beach area of the tourist resort island of Bali, blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiah, killed 38 Indonesians and 88 Australians, as well as people of 20 other nationalities.
As Chusnul continues her painful recovery and struggles to keep her snack stall open in Sidoarjo in East Java, she relies on funding from Indonesia’s victim and witness protection agency, LPSK, for medication and psychiatric assistance.
“I contacted Miss Susi, the vice head of LPSK, and asked, ‘Miss Susi, is it true that there will be budget cuts to LPSK from the government?’ She said yes. I asked, how will that affect the victims’ medical aid? She told me, ‘It seems your aid won’t be safe’,” Chusnul recounted.
LPSK chief Achmadi, who goes by one name, said the agency supports Prabowo’s budget cuts but will still accommodate the rights of witnesses and victims while making efforts to be more efficient.
