Earthquake disrupts education in Irian Jaya

Earthquake disrupts education in Irian Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): The Feb. 17 major quake that claimed more than
100 lives in northern Irian Jaya has thrown local education out
of kilter in Biak Numfor, the worst stricken regency.

Education officials said yesterday hundreds of students will
have to take their classes in the open air because their school
buildings were devastated by the quake measuring 7.0 on the
Richter scale.

According to an official count, 129 school buildings were
totally lost, eight heavily damaged and 244 slightly damaged
across Biak Numfor.

Chief of the local education office Afindin Mandja said 20,395
of the regency's 32,395 elementary school students have lost all
their belongings when the tidal waves triggered by the quake hit
their homes.

He said he needs clothing for 800 kindergarten pupils, 15,400
elementary school students, 3,300 junior high school students and
1,700 high school students.

"They badly need clothing to go to school," Afindin was quoted
as saying by the Antara news agency.

But the absence of school buildings and uniforms have hardly
dampened the students and teachers' spirit. Education officials
have promised to provide tents and open spaces for them to
continue education.

Meanwhile, relief aid authorities in Biak said yesterday the
death toll from the quake rose to 107 yesterday. Another 51 were
still unaccounted for, and 56 were in critical condition.

Lt. Col. Toni Husodo from the relief aid coordination unit
told The Jakarta Post by telephone that the disaster has caused
an estimated loss of Rp 117.7 billion ( $518.5 million) in Biak
Numfor.

Humanitarian assistance is still streaming in. As of
yesterday, the unit had collected Rp 176 million in cash, 110
tons of rice, 3,900 boxes of medicines, 5,500 blankets and
178,000 packs of instant noodles, Toni said.

The earth quake, which had its epicenter on the seabed about
110 kilometers east of Biak, also caused extensive damage in two
other regencies, Manokwari and Yapen Yaropen.

The Japanese government sent a team of experts to the affected
areas yesterday to study the disaster's aftermath and provide
technical assistance to their Indonesian colleagues, the Japanese
embassy in Jakarta said.

Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto expressed his
sympathy to the Indonesian government over the calamity. (pan)