Diarrhea flares up in flood-hit S. Bandung

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Hundreds of people in southern Bandung have been suffering from diarrhea and eye infections amid the worst flooding since 1994, which has inundated the subdistrict for two weeks.

More than 3,000 evacuated residents, whose houses are still flooded, have been living in temporary accommodation and school buildings since Nov. 15, 2001.

"Since the start of the holy month of Ramadhan on Nov. 16, 2001, we have not once had sahur (dawn meals) or broken the fast in our houses because of the flood. The water reaches 1.5 meters high," 50-year old Warsa from Dayeukolot village told The Jakarta Post.

He said the flood had inundated around 200 houses in his village and 80 families had taken refuge in Pasawangan village, while many others had chosen to stay with their relatives in nearby areas.

Bandung Regent Obar Sobarna said the flood was the worst to have hit the area since 1994.

Health workers have been dispatched to camps in Pasawahan and Cisirung to help villagers suffering from diarrhea and eye infections.

Dadang Nurdin, a medical worker from a public health center in Cangkuang village, said three medical teams had already been sent to the worst affected areas to help people suffering from health problems.

"Most refugees are suffering from diarrhea, eye infections and skin irritations," he said, adding that the physicians toured the villages and examined around 100 patients per day.

Evacuees said they believed the infections resulted from floodwaters that had been contaminated with chemical substances from neighboring textile factories.

Waste from factories, which is normally dumped in the nearby river, has now polluted floodwaters. The local waste treatment service in Cisirung village has also been flooded and cannot accept any more waste, Warsa said.

As a consequence, he said that the water turned brown after having mixed with chemical substances.

Dadang said that although local health authorities had smoothly deployed medical assistance for the flood victims, such diseases could spread to other areas if necessary precautions were not taken.

Another evacuee, Lili Suhaeli, said many flood victims had contracted the illnesses because they were staying in extremely overloaded camps.

He said the diarrhea spread because the evacuees did not consume healthy or nutritious food and there was no clean water. "How can we be healthy if we always have noodles every sahur and when breaking the fast."

The evacuees also complained that the local government was not paying serious attention to their welfare, as they had received only a small level of assistance from them.

Floods have affected villages in southern Bandung on a regular basis since 1994, when the local administration carried out a development project in the Citarum river.

"Apparently, after inspections, the river was only widened, not deepened, so it cannot accommodate the overflow of water from northern Bandung," said Lili, who has lived in the village of Cisirung Bojong for 20 years.