Alor earthquake victims share shelters with cattle
Alor earthquake victims share shelters with cattle
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Alor
Yustus Maiten, 35, put his one-year-old son to bed in an empty
pigpen while he and the five other members of his family got
ready for bed on mats laid out under a starlit sky.
"This is all that we have, and (this is) where we sleep. God
knows what a mess it will be when it rains," Yustus, a villager
from Baumi, North Alor regency, told The Jakarta Post.
The pigpen is the only structure Yustus could find for his son
to sleep in because a recent earthquake completely leveled the
family's home.
Nearby, people and their farm animals crowded together inside
a few emergency tents.
"We have no other place to stay. All we had was destroyed. The
earthquake has left us with nothing to survive," said another
villager, Ayub Maiten.
A powerful quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale devastated
the East Nusa Tenggara island of Alor on Nov. 12, killing more
than 30 people, damaging around 17,000 buildings and leaving
50,000 people homeless.
Yustus and Ayub are two of the thousands left homeless by the
disaster with little food and clothing as the rainy season
begins.
"I used to farm, but our rice fields were destroyed by the
landslides. If the government doesn't come to our rescue, we are
all going to starve," Yustus said.
He wished the government could supply them with building
materials so they could rebuild their coastal village, which had
sunk into the ground.
A similar scene of devastation was observed in Waisika
village, Northeast Alor regency, where some 400 people were
scaling the mountain, eating whatever edible vegetation they
could find.
"We've been gathering leaves and cassava from the forest for
food. We need rice, we need clean water, we even need school
supplies for our kids," said Yulius Pamanu, 40.
The earthquake has halted schools, businesses and other daily
activities. People are afraid to return to damaged buildings for
fear of aftershocks.
With the rainy season approaching and diseases spreading, the
quake survivors are not sure how to go on with their lives.
The central government has put aside Rp 1 billion in aid to
rebuild houses and other structures in the regency, a far cry
from the Rp 100 billion in losses estimated by the local
administration.
The East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration plans to
erect emergency shelters for the survivors and to take steps to
contain communicable diseases.
Until this plan materializes, however, Yustus and Maiten --
and thousands of other island villagers -- will have to rely on
their own wits and resources to prevail.