Famine, trauma consume tsunami survivors

The Jakarta Post Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe/Jakarta

Starvation appears imminent for thousands of tsunami survivors sheltered in tents across Aceh, who are still waiting for humanitarian assistance that has trickled in far too slowly since Sunday's nightmare began.

Although a large number of local and international aid groups have already arrived in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, the absence of trucks and an insufficient fuel supply to transport the goods and volunteers has apparently been the reason that aid cannot efficiently reach the scattered refugee camps.

Survivors of the tsunami in Banda Aceh have had to scavenge for food.

"I don't know how get the aid. Rice is nowhere to be found," one of the refugees, Yanti, said in desperation.

As fuel and food became increasingly scarce, people had to stand in a long line in gas stations and shops that were charging astronomically inflated prices.

Incidents of looting were also reported in Banda Aceh.

A policeman, Supardi bin Kasdi, was quoted by Agence France- Presse as saying that survivors in Meulaboh, where the tsunami had destroyed over 80 percent of the city's structures, said they would have already run out of food.

"When I left them (on Tuesday morning) they only had enough food for a day. I told my men to try to sustain themselves by eating coconuts, but they will only last for another day. I saw residents in the area scavenging for dirty rice on the ground," he said after reaching Banda Aceh.

With around three quarters of the west coast of the province in ruins, the death toll from Sunday's disaster surpassed 45,000 throughout northern Sumatra.

Michael Elmquist, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Indonesia, estimated that the death toll might reach between 50,000 and 80,000.

"I would say we are probably talking about somewhere in the order of 80,000 people, 50 to 80,000 people, that would be my educated guess," Elmquist was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Purnomo Sidik, national disaster director at the Ministry of Social Services, estimated that at least 10,000 people had died in Meulaboh. Only 3,778 of those have been included in the official toll because the rest have not been properly accounted for.

Given the severity of the calamity, the central government decided on Wednesday to take over the administration of the province.

"After the earthquake and tsunami, it is no longer a state of civil emergency. It is a real emergency situation, even more serious," stated Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is also the head of the national disaster mitigation operation.

Jakarta extended the state of civil emergency in the strife- torn province to another six months in November.

Kalla also said the government earmarked Rp 12.6 trillion to finance a massive relief and reconstruction operation for the tsunami-hit regions that would last until 2009.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, fresh from a two-day visit to Aceh, said he would like to return to the province this weekend.

"There is a plan to visit Meulaboh and Banda Aceh." presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.

Amidst the shortage of food, survivors also suffered from serious mental trauma and have fallen victim to rumors of another tidal wave.

Thousands of residents in Lhokseumawe in North Aceh fled the city in search of higher ground on Wednesday following a rumor that a strong tidal wave was imminent.

With every means of transportations available, the hysterical residents left Lhokseumawe in droves causing a massive traffic jam on the roads leading out of the city.

"For God's sake, please help us, the sea water is coming again," one of the survivors, Aisyah, said through her tears.

After reaching a safe spot, two kilometers away from where the journalists encountered the frantic refugee, news arrived that the waves were just knee high.

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