Famine, trauma consume tsunami survivors

Thu, 30 Dec 2004, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

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.