The City of Balikpapan was the fifth city that became the destination for the dissemination of the results of the Elderly-Friendly City Capacity Assessment Study. The local city government welcomed the dissemination activities in this city with great enthusiasm. The activity took place on Tuesday, July 2, 2013, at the Hall of the Mayor's Office of Balikpapan. Balikpapan Mayor Rizal Effendi fully engaged in the event. The Balikpapan City Government packaged the event under the title "SOCIALIZATION OF ELDERLY ACCESSIBILITY AND DISSEMINATION OF ASSESSMENT STUDY RESULTS FOR ELDERLY-FRIENDLY CITY"

After the ceremonial event was over, the main agenda series commenced with the presentation and the dissemination of the study results by Dr. Ni Wayan Suriastini, M.Phil (Executive Director of SurveyMETER) together with Bondan Sikoki, MA (SurveyMETER Chairwoman) representing the SurveyMETER research institute and CAS UI, as the study implementer.

In her presentation, Dr. Suriastini stated the level of suitability of the City of Balikpapan in meeting the criteria for an elderly-friendly city is generally higher than 14 cities in Indonesia. Of the eight assessment dimensions of an elderly-friendly city including buildings and open spaces, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information, as well as community support and health services, Balikpapan City has the highest score compared to other sample cities on the dimensions of communication and information (61%), community support and health services (57%), buildings and open spaces (55%), and transportation (55%). Civic participation and employment (15%) and housing (33%) were the elderly-friendly city dimensions that are still lacking in Balikpapan and also generally in Indonesia.

Balikpapan Mayor Rizal Effendi welcomed the results of this study enthusiastically. He said that he would immediately fix the indicators with low achievements. In the future, he will instruct the manager of the flat to prioritize the elderly occupying the lower floors. Rizal will also seek employment opportunities for the elderly, especially in sectors that require expertise without physical and age restrictions. In addition, Rizal hopes that Balikpapan will have a comfortable garden for the elderly, where they can sit while enjoying the fresh air, exercising, reading books, and even fishing. (JF)

Local media news regarding the event can be accessed at:

http://www.balikpapan.go.id/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5605%3Abalikpapan-menuju-kota-ramah-lansia&catid=1%3Aberita-kota&lang=in