Almost 50,000 face famine in E. Nusa Tenggara
Almost 50,000 face famine in E. Nusa Tenggara
JAKARTA (JP): At least 49,817 villagers living in several
clusters of remote villages in East Nusa Tenggara are reportedly
facing food shortages, a legacy of last year's prolonged drought.
Forty-seven villages scattered across the regencies of
Manggarai, Sumba Barat, Kupang, Kupang mayoralty, Alor, Ngada,
Sumba Timur and Flores Timur have been affected over the past six
months, Antara news agency reported Tuesday.
The local government-run Starvation Command Post in the
provincial capital Kupang feared the number could be greater as
the preliminary estimate was based only on reports filed by
several villages.
"The possibility is that it could be higher," Jhony Ataupah
said.
Villagers' diets have been reduced to potentially poisonous
wild forest yams and mango seeds in the past six months "just for
survival", Ataupah said.
Contacted for further confirmation yesterday, spokesman for
the local office of the Ministry of Social Services Bambang
Subroto said "that's the government's figure" on the estimated
number.
Hendro Suwito of the humanitarian non-governmental
organization World Vision Indonesia (WVI) in Jakarta also said
yesterday the number was "not surprising" as last year's crop
harvests were badly affected by drought that hit the province and
depleted the people's food supply.
The WVI earlier this month channeled A$100 million in
assistance from the Australian Agency for International Aid to
Sumba Timur regency, Hendro said
"The relief program has been given on the food-and-cash-for-
work basis," Hendro told The Jakarta Post of the outreach to
11,000 villagers in the regency's Haharu, Pandawai and Pahunga
Lodu subdistricts.
On Tuesday, Antara reported villagers of Lewo Tolok in Ile Ape
subdistrict of the Flores Timur regency were worst-hit as the
prolonged drought had made it hard for them to get fresh water
and food.
It said villagers were forced to sail for three hours to the
closest island to find fresh water.
Last year's El Nino weather phenomenon exacerbated effects of
the dry season, causing an extended drought that hit several
parts of the country, sparked forest fires in Sumatra and
Kalimantan and led to food shortages in Irian Jaya.
About 700 people reported died of famine and drought-related
diseases in Irian Jaya last year. (aan)