Bahorok survivors still shocked by aftermath of flash flood

Bahorok survivors still shocked by aftermath of flash flood

One month after the dreadful Bahorok flash flood, residents
close to the disaster area in Bukit Lawang village, Langkat
district in North Sumatra, are still living in fear. Rumors have
it that another lake has formed as the result of human activity
and is close to breaching the walls containing it, just as
happened during the Nov. 2 incident which killed more than 140
people.

What really happened? Was it a natural or a man-made disaster?
The Jakarta Post's reporters Apriadi Gunawan, Muninggar
Saraswati and Ridwan Max Sijabat take a closer look at the
disaster in this article, the first in a series of articles.

Perhaps the government and the politicians can be forgiven for
their seeming forgetfulness about the Bahorok tragedy. The Idul
Fitri festivities and next year's elections have managed to
divert everyone's attention from the tragedy, but not the locals.

"The tragedy is still fresh in my mind. It happened so fast,
it was like lightning ... there was no time to wake up my
neighbors or salvage our belongings. Everything was gone in a
matter of seconds," said Misnan, 30, a survivor of the tragedy.

He and other survivors are still shocked by the disaster,
which killed their relatives, destroyed their houses and wrecked
their futures.

Burhanuddin Rangkuti, owner of the Sibayak Leuser Motel, which
was destroyed by the flood, said 30 of his relatives had gone
missing in the tragedy and the bodies of only six of them had
been recovered.

He said he had dreamed the accident would happen three months
before it occurred. "I lost all my relatives and the hotel
business I developed over 17 years."

Burhanuddin was the winner of the Minister of Tourism, Posts
and Telecommunications 1995 trophy for his meritorious service to
developing tourism in Bahorok district, about 90 kilometers
northwest of Medan.

"The only things I have are the clothes I am wearing," he
said.

Movie star El Manik, who now lives in Jakarta, said the
paradise where he had spent his childhood had been destroyed.

"The tragedy happened because humankind is no longer friendly
to nature and, even worse, damages the environment," he said as
tears welled up in his eyes while he handed over a Rp 31 million
donation from Jakarta artists recently.

The flood, near the Gunung Leuser National Park, also hit two
other villages, Timbang Lawan and Samperaya, while more than 100
people, including children, are still missing or presumed dead.
More than 400 houses, three mosques, eight steel and wooden
bridges, 35 motels and inns, 400 souvenir kiosks, dozens of food
vendors' stands, seven vehicles and two motorcycles were
destroyed or severely damaged.

Some of the 200 villagers seriously injured in the incident
are still receiving treatment at Djolham Hospital in Binjai. Some
1,300 people are currently homeless.

Well-known for its ecotourism at home and abroad, Bukit Lawang
has now vanished and hundreds of survivors are facing uncertain
futures.

Also left behind is a controversy that has developed into a
mud-slinging match between the government and the public over
what caused the disaster.

The government has declared the flood to be a natural
disaster, while locals and environmental organizations have
attributed the disaster to illegal logging backed up by corrupt
government officials, councillors, businessmen and security
personnel.

Locals say they believe the clearance of lowland forests for
farmland and plantations is also to blame.