Bad weather hinders famine relief in Papua

Bad weather hinders famine relief in Papua

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

No relief has arrived as yet for starving Papuans, after bad
weather prevented on Saturday the delivery of food aid and
medicines to a famine-stricken area of Papua.

Only small amounts of food and medicines trickled into the
famine-affected area of Yahukimo regency, while most of the aid
was still piling up in Wamena, including assistance that had been
brought by a military transport plane dispatched earlier from
Jakarta.

A senior Papuan health official, Jacobus Mari, said the only
food aid and medicines that had arrived in Yahukimo came from the
neighboring regency of Asmat. The food aid, made up of rice and
instant noodles, was transported to Yahukimo regency on two light
aircraft. There are at least 42 landing strips where small
aircraft can land in Yahukimo regency. Jacobus, the chief of
Yahukimo health agency, said the assistance that had been
received so far was far from enough, and the people of Yahukimo
were anticipating more aid.

Jacobus also said that the Yahukimo health agency had not been
able to dispatch health officials to the affected areas due to
the bad weather. The agency had earlier planned to drop health
workers off at landing strips, from where they were to make their
way on foot to the famine-stricken area. "A team of two doctors
and two nurses has been readied but the bad weather prevented
them from going into the famine affected area," said Jacobus, who
is based in Sumohai, Yahukimo's capital.

Yahukimo became the center of national attention after Regent
Ones Pahabol reported that at least 55 Yahukimo people had died
from starvation and 112 others had fallen sick from related
illnesses since November. The famine was reportedly caused by the
failure of the sweet potato crop, but Papuan opposition leaders
have blamed the local and central government from ignoring their
own people, leading to the famine. The opposition said the famine
was evidence that the huge sums of money flowing into the
province under regional autonomy had only benefited the Papuan
elite rather than the people.

Yahukimo regency is some 800 kilometers from Jayapura,
the Papuan capital, and can only be reached by air. The region is
mostly mountainous with some valleys, and has a wet tropical
climate. It extends to some 98,693 square kilometers and is
inhabited by about 55,000 people, according to the most recent
census.

Aid sent from Jakarta was still on the ground in Wamena, the
nearest big town to Yahukimo. The aid, which was brought by a
military transport plane, consisted of high-energy biscuits and
medicines. "The weather is still bad and the aid is still stuck
in town," said Angel Sinaga, a reporter with Pacific Post in
Wamena.

The bad weather has also prevented officials from Jakarta, led
by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie,
from traveling to Yahukimo regency. The officials arrived in
Wamena at 2 p.m but have since then been unable to depart for the
famine-ravaged zone.