Five ministers visit devastated Nabire

Five ministers visit devastated Nabire

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five ministers visited the devastated town of Nabire on Thursday
as many residents in the area continued to come down with various
diseases following the recent earthquake.

In the belated visit, which took place almost a week after the
powerful quake rocked the town, the five ministers toured the
city and visited victims in local hospitals.

The ministers flew back to Jakarta in the afternoon, and
quickly pledged that they would report on the situation in Nabire
to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The five ministers were Minister of Health Siti Fadillah
Supari, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah, Minister of
Home Affairs M. Ma'aruf, Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto
and State Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions
Saifullah Yusuf.

During the visit, which lasted a couple of hours, the
ministers were accompanied by Papua Governor JP Salossa and
Nabire Regent AP Yeouw, Antara reported.

Meanwhile, as of Thursday at least 169 residents, including
many children, were reported to be suffering from various
ailments, including malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhea.

The ailments were attributed to poor sanitation following the
earthquake.

Many residents continue to remain outdoors for fear of the
aftershocks that continue to rattle the city.

The education sector has also been paralyzed as the powerful
quake collapsed dozens of schools and higher education
facilities.

Nabire airport is still closed to large aircraft as the
damaged runway has not been repaired yet. Only small planes, such
as Twin Otters, can land.

However, despite the gloomy situation, some encouraging
developments have taken place in the city. Electricity and
telephone connections have been restored in some areas, to the
joy of residents. A government official also confirmed that the
supply of rice was sufficient for the next few months.

Nabire Logistics Agency has some 770 tons of rice in stock,
which will be enough to last until January of next year, said
Papua Logistics Agency director Indra Sutanto.

Indra said that his agency had also requested some 2,000 tons
of additional rice from Surabaya, which is set to arrive in the
city in the middle of this month.

As of Thursday, the number of fatalities in the earthquake
still stood at 29, but this figure could rise as many more bodies
are believed to still be buried under the rubble.

The earthquake on Friday, which measured 6.4 on the Richter
scale, was the second to hit the city in nine months.

Last February, a 6.9-on-the-Richter-scale earthquake in the
city killed 37 people and injured hundreds of others.