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.