Death toll from Medan flooding rises to 13

Death toll from Medan flooding rises to 13

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The death toll from flooding triggered by heavy rains in the
North Sumatra capital of Medan rose to at least 13 people on
Tuesday, while four others are still missing and feared dead,
local officials said.

Rescue workers and residents found nine more bodies of flood
victims on Tuesday morning. Four other victims had been
discovered on Monday.

One of the nine dead victims on Tuesday was Rusdin Sitinjak, a
37-year-old resident of Medan Helvetia, who was electrocuted on
the roof of his house while trying to escape the floodwaters.

The other eight were identified as Tiwi, 10, and Karnia Dewi,
17 -- both residents from Medan Sunggal subdistrict; Cory
Hutabarat, 70, Acian, 10, and Kitamin Barus, 57 -- from Medan
Helvetia; and Suheri, 30, Tasniah, 3.5 and Leni -- all from Medan
Tuntungan.

The exodus of residents continues as floodwaters measuring up
to three metres deep flooded their homes.

Water levels in the main parts of Medan began to subside, but
weather officials warned of further floods in coming days due to
the persistently high rainfall.

Residents in the country's third largest city are preparing to
file a class action suit against North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal
Nurdin and several other government officials for their failure
to prevent the floods that have devastated Medan in the last
three years.

Dozens of people from at least seven subdistricts -- Medan
Johor, Medan Denai, Medan Tembung, Medan Labuan, Medan Sunggal,
Medan Perjuangan and Percut Sei Tuan -- came to the city's Legal
Aid Institute (LBH) on Tuesday to lodge a class action suit
against the relevant authorities.

The plaintiffs demanded Rp 1 trillion (US$96.1 million) in
compensation from the defendants. The money represented the
estimated losses incurred by the local people because of the
annual flooding.

The residents accused the local authorities of failing to curb
deforestation in the upstream areas of several rivers running
through Medan and of neglecting other measures to prevent floods.

The ongoing floods started after heavy rains on Sunday night
swelled water levels of the main rivers in the city.

Ikhwaluddin Simatupang, coordinator of LBH's political and
civil division, said his office would set up a team of lawyers to
examine the people's complaints over the floods before it decided
to lodge the class action suit.

"We don't want our suit to be premature. The team will
therefore seek legal loopholes to file the class action suit," he
said, adding that the team would need two weeks to collect data
to formulize the litigation.

"We expect to file the suit by mid February," Ikhwaluddin
added.

In response to the planned suit, Governor Rizal told The
Jakarta Post later on Tuesday that the move would be pointless
and denied any wrongdoing.

"The current floods are the impact of the forestation policy
of officials who served in this office before me. So please sue
them, not me," he said.

Rizal called on flood victims not to be provoked by certain
parties attempting to profit from the sufferings of other people.
"The flood problem should not be politicized. The focus should
now be on how to help the victims."

The governor formed an integrated task force earlier on
Tuesday involving relevant government offices and environmental
experts to prevent further flooding in the future. The team is
led Rizal's deputy Abdul Wahab Dalimunthe.

Rizal also reminded the people to be prepared for more floods.
"There will still be heavy rainfall for the next seven to 14
days," he added.