Disaster toll reaches 125 across the archipelago

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Disastrous floods and landslides continued to devastate cities across Java and other parts of the country on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 125 and destroying around 120,000 hectares of rice fields.

The calamities forced local authorities to prepare emergency measures nationwide as further flooding is likely to plague many regions across Indonesia, which could cause much worst devastation.

The resort island of Bali, Nusa Tenggara and some parts of Java island have been swept by Cyclone Chris producing high waves and turbulent weather conditions.

At least 70 people have been killed since floods and landslides hit East Java late last month. At least 42 deaths were recorded in Bondowoso regency, 12 in the neighboring town of Situbondo and 14 others in Sampang on Madura island.

In Jakarta alone, devastating floods have claimed at least 33 lives and left five people missing. Landslides and floods have also killed at least 15 villagers in Bali.

The East Java provincial administration has disbursed Rp 2 billion in aid for flood victims in the affected regions across East Java, and will allocate another Rp 15 billion from the province's state budget.

Bondowoso Regent M. Maschut told The Jakarta Post that Wringin village was one of the areas worst hit by floods and landslides, killing at least 20 people, destroying 453 houses.

Data from East Java's emergency task force showed that the disasters caused Rp 14 billion of losses in Bondowoso, another Rp 14 billion in Situbondo and Rp 2.4 billion in Pamekasan.

Officials in Jakarta said the widespread floods had destroyed more than 120,000 hectares of rice fields and ruined almost 300,000 tons of unhusked rice.

Indonesia has targeted an unhusked rice output of 53.88 million tons for 2002, from last year's 50.1 million tons.

"As of yesterday (Wednesday), at least 120,991 hectares of paddy fields in seven main rice producing provinces have been inundated by floods," Sarsito Wahono, a senior official at the agriculture ministry, told Reuters.

However, Minister of Agriculture Bungaran Saragih said the floods would not significantly cut the country's food production.

Rising water also affected plantation crops, with cocoa in Sulawesi and rubber in Sumatra the worst hit.

In Karawang, one of West Java's largest rice producing regencies, floods triggered by three days of rain swamped more than 21,000 hectares of rice fields on Wednesday.

Head of the Karawang agriculture office Sodikin M.S. said almost all the ruined farm land was located along the coastal area. He warned that the devastation could affect another thousand hectares of rice fields.

"Since I assumed office in 1999, this year's destruction of rice fields is the worst," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Flooding has ruined around 3,427 hectares of farm land since late January in Central Java, including Pekalongan, Batang, Pemalang, Demak, Kendal, Cilacap, Banyumas, and Purworejo, Deputy Central Java Governor Mulyadi Widodo said on Wednesday.

"The rainfall that has inundated farming areas was unpredictable, so it's hard for us to propose more fund allocations to help farmers affected by the floods," he said.

The floods in Central Java spread to Karangtengah village in Temanggung regency, forcing 200 people to flee to safer areas after their houses were hit by a landslide on Wednesday.

The landslide affected at least 15 hectares of land, most of which was a mountainous, deforested area. No casualties were reported.

A separate landslide destroyed and damaged dozens of houses and one mosque in Tasikmalaya, Central Java. There were no reports of casualties.

Apart from the widespread floods, threats of danger from Cyclone Chris haunted people, particularly fishermen, and ships off the eastern parts of the country.

A private shipping company in Kupang has temporarily stopped their ships from operating since waves in Java Sea continued to rise by up to three meters high.

In Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, two motor boats capsized on Sunday and their 12 crew members are still missing amid storms. However, local Navy personnel suspended the search for the victims due to bad weather conditions on Wednesday.