The photo shows Anies Baswedan visiting a flooded neighbourhood in February 2017 -- before he was elected Jakarta governor
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on January 8, 2020 at 07:30
- 3 min read
- By AFP Indonesia
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This January 1, 2020, blog post published the photo of Anies who looked soaking wet.
Translated to English, the Indonesian-language’s headline reads: “Look, This Is Anies’s Condition When He Is Handling Jakarta Flood.”
Below is a screenshot of the blog post:
The first three paragraphs of the blog post read: “Today’s floods really drained the energy of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. Since receiving the report about the flooding, Anies directly stepped in to help flood victims on Wednesday, January 1, 2020.
“Despite being attacked on social media, the former education minister was still patient observing each flooding spot. He also patiently gave instructions to his subordinates to stay ready to help the victims.
“With wet clothes due to the rains, Anies also told all Jakarta government personnel to step in to help the 2020 Jakarta flood victims. Anies reminded that all evacuation shelters and evacuees’ needs to be well equipped.”
The same photo also appeared with similar claims on Facebook here, here and here, where it has been shared more than 1,100 times.
The photo was also published in this and this blog post alongside similar claims.
“Anies” refers to Anies Baswedan, who has been the governor of Jakarta since October 2017.
Widespread flooding hit Jakarta and its surrounding suburbs in the first days of January 2020, killing at least 60 people and leaving tens of thousands in the capital city unable to return to their waterlogged homes, as reported by AFP on January 5, 2020, here.
But the claim is false; the image has been used in a misleading context; it is an old photo of Anies visiting a neighborhood which was affected by flooding in February 2017, before he was elected governor.
A Google reverse image followed by a subsequent keyword search found this original photo posted on Gerindra Party’s official Facebook page on February 20, 2017.
Here is a screenshot comparison between the picture in the misleading post (L) and Gerindra Party’s picture (R):
The photo is part of this Facebook post, which includes five other pictures of Anies.
Translated from Indonesian to English, the caption of the post reads: “This morning Anies Baswedan visited the flood-hit Cipinang Melayu, Makasar, East Jakarta and interacted with local residents. During the visit, the residents told him their hope that if Anies and Sandi are elected governor and deputy governor of Jakarta, they can immediately solve the flood problem in the capital city without resorting to evictions.”
Indonesian media Kumparan published this report about Anies’s visit on February 20, 2017. Translated from Indonesian-language to English, the report’s headline reads: “Anies Baswedan Inspects Flood in Cipinang Melayu.”
Translated, the first two paragraphs of the report reads: “Jakarta governor candidate Anies Baswedan inspected flood affected area in Cipinang Melayu, Kampung Makasar, East Jakarta, Monday (20/2). Arriving at the location at around 10:30 am local time, Anies visited some residential areas which are still inundated with water.
“Wearing a red jacket, Anies who had just arrived, went straight to the flooded residential areas. He also walked in an area which was inundated with thigh-deep water.”
Below is a screenshot of the Kumparan report:
Backed by Gerindra Party, Anies and his running mate Sandiaga Uno won the final round of the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, as reported by The Jakarta Post on April 19, 2017, here. The pair were inaugurated on October 16, 2017.
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