Flood victims, lamenting their fate, launch plea for help<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Floodwaters have forced many Jakarta residents to leave their
\nhomes and take temporary shelter at mosques, schools, subdistrict
\noffices and even public cemeteries.<\/p>\n
About 1,000 evacuees, including babies and elderly people, in
\nCipinang Besar Utara subdistrict, East Jakarta, moved to Prumpung
\ncemetery as no shelter had been provided by the local
\nauthorities.<\/p>\n
They built temporary tents from worn-out plastic and cloth and
\nslept on the grave stones, damaging almost all graves in the
\narea.<\/p>\n
Ida, who was breast-feeding her baby, told The Jakarta Post
\nshe had taken shelter at the cemetery on Monday afternoon when
\nthe water level rose above three meters, submerging her house.<\/p>\n
She slept with her three children, aged seven, four, and a
\none-year-old baby, in a one meter by two meter tent made from
\nbatik cloth. Her husband, a bakso (meat ball soup) vendor, joined
\nsome of his friends in another tent.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have the chance to stay in an adequate shelter.
\nCircumstances have forced us to stay here. We have to endure the
\ncold and the rain as at night we were drenched by heavy
\nrainfall,\" she said in a sorrowful tone.<\/p>\n
Ida added that she had to relieve herself in the dirty
\nfloodwaters or in a remote part of the cemetery as there was no
\ntoilet available.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Jamila, said no doctors or city officers had
\nvisited or helped them. Fortunately, other residents whose houses
\nwere not flooded assisted them to build a public kitchen for the
\nevacuees.<\/p>\n
On Thursday morning, she only ate a plate of rice with a
\nboiled egg, tempeh, and crackers. She did not have any lunch. \"I
\ndon't know if I can eat tonight,\" she added.<\/p>\n
The deplorable condition of evacuees was also seen in
\nPetamburan subdistrict, West Jakarta, where at least 700 people
\nhave been left stranded by the authorities. There were no medical
\npersonnel or sanitation facilities.<\/p>\n
The public health center (Puskesmas) in the area, which was
\nsupposed to remain open 24 hours to help them, was closed. Some
\n100 of them took shelter in the front yard of the Puskesmas.<\/p>\n
Others took shelter in SDN 01 and SDN 03 elementary school
\nbuildings. Here they were helped by members of the Justice Party
\nto set up a public kitchen.<\/p>\n
Hadijah and her six children slept on the ground of the
\nPuskesmas yard without any blanket or mattress.<\/p>\n
\"I had to spend the night here with my children. The
\nmosquitoes were awful and it was really cold at night. Moreover,
\nthere are no medical officers around or adequate clean water,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Hadijah and other flood victims had to use the flooded area as
\na public toilet.<\/p>\n
In Bukit Duri subdistrict, South Jakarta, at least 1,800
\nevacuees, sheltered at the subdistrict office and at Attahiriyah
\nMuslim University. There was also no adequate clean water supply.<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Weningtyas of the Tebet Public Health Center,
\ninadequate clean water supplies and poor sanitation had caused
\nsome evacuees to suffer from diarrhea. A 18-month-old baby was
\ntaken to the hospital suffering from severe diarrhea on Wednesday
\nnight.<\/p>\n
She added also that since two days ago, at least 200 evacuees
\nwere brought to the public health center suffering from several
\nailments such as influenza, cough, fever, skin irritation and
\ndiarrhea.<\/p>\n
\"Without any preventive measures, the number of people
\nafflicted is feared to increase,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/flood-victims-lamenting-their-fate-launch-plea-for-help-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}