Landslide affected residents to be resettled: Regent<\/p>\n
By Israr Ardiansyah<\/p>\n
PURWOREJO, Central Java (JP): Purworejo regent HM Marsaid says
\nthat the areas devastated by the recent landslide are not
\nsuitable for living in and resettlement of the residents is a
\nmust.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists who interviewed him at the most
\nseverely hit village of Kemanukan on Tuesday, Marsaid said that
\nit looked impossible for the people to return to their homes
\nwhere everything had been destroyed by the landslide.<\/p>\n
\"There is a village without any buildings,\" he said. \"But, I
\nhave no idea where the resettlement area will be. I also hope
\nthat a donor would pioneer the resettlement plan.\"<\/p>\n
He did not reveal whether he had consulted the residents about
\nthe relocation plan.<\/p>\n
The situation in the landslide-hit villages looked normal. No
\nsob or cry was heard.<\/p>\n
Local people were busy collecting their belongings from the
\ndebris. They said they would keep their belongings at relatives'
\nhouses in neighboring villages.<\/p>\n
Donation boxes were put here and there. The regent said no one
\nhad opened the boxes. \"The use of the money will be supervised by
\nthe head of development affairs in each village,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Kemanukan village also looked normal, despite the fact
\nthat the village was almost totally destroyed. The Karangrejo
\nneighborhood (dusun) was totally covered by soil and mud from the
\n70-meter high hill which collapsed last week.<\/p>\n
To journalists' surprise, the village of Kemanukan has become
\na \"tourist site.\"<\/p>\n
\"Most of the people flocking to the village are visitors, who
\nare just sight seeing, not helping the rescue workers or the
\nresidents,\" said regent Marsaid.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday evening, the road connecting the Kaligesing
\ndistrict in the Purworejo regency with the Kulonprogo regency was
\nstill blocked by mounds of soil.<\/p>\n
With two dead bodies found on Tuesday, the death toll reached
\n47, the joint rescue team confirmed. The two bodies were of Saru
\n(57) and Marsini (41) residents of Karangrejo village, the
\nrescuers said.<\/p>\n
\"Six people were reported missing. Five are residents of
\nKemanukan village, Bagelen district, and one is from Plipir
\nvillage in the Kaligesing district,\" a local who joined the
\nrescue team said.<\/p>\n
Survivors recalled that the disaster started at 2:00 a.m.
\nSunday morning with a thundering sound.<\/p>\n
\"I stayed up on that night. I heard a very terrible sound and
\nthe electricity suddenly went out. I had no idea what was
\nhappening,\" a 70-year-old woman of the Kemanukan village said.<\/p>\n
She said she asked her son to hit the kentongan (a drum made
\nfrom bamboo) to alert the villagers as she believed something was
\nwrong. \"None of us dared to find out what was going on outside.\"<\/p>\n
\"Later, after daybreak I learned that the house of Paimin, my
\nneighbor, had disappeared. A huge pile of soil and tall trees
\ncovered his house,\" she said. Paimin's house was some 15 meters
\naway from hers.<\/p>\n
\"I saw that the concrete electricity pole was broken,\" she
\nadded. All members of her family survived the calamity.<\/p>\n
Daryono, 33, had a different story. The man who lived in
\nanother neighborhood said that his uncle's wife was \"swallowed\"
\nby the landslide.<\/p>\n
\"My uncle told me he and his wife were walking hand in hand
\nleaving the area when the landslide began. My uncle was thrown by
\na sliding land flow. He hit a coconut tree, and could not save
\nhis wife. Later he was informed that his wife's parents were also
\nburied in the mud.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile aid has been flooding into the three districts
\nravaged by the landslide.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/landslide-affected-residents-to-be-resettled-regent-1447893297",
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