Flood victims, lamenting their fate, launch plea for help

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Floodwaters have forced many Jakarta residents to leave their homes and take temporary shelter at mosques, schools, subdistrict offices and even public cemeteries.

About 1,000 evacuees, including babies and elderly people, in Cipinang Besar Utara subdistrict, East Jakarta, moved to Prumpung cemetery as no shelter had been provided by the local authorities.

They built temporary tents from worn-out plastic and cloth and slept on the grave stones, damaging almost all graves in the area.

Ida, who was breast-feeding her baby, told The Jakarta Post she had taken shelter at the cemetery on Monday afternoon when the water level rose above three meters, submerging her house.

She slept with her three children, aged seven, four, and a one-year-old baby, in a one meter by two meter tent made from batik cloth. Her husband, a bakso (meat ball soup) vendor, joined some of his friends in another tent.

"We don't have the chance to stay in an adequate shelter. Circumstances have forced us to stay here. We have to endure the cold and the rain as at night we were drenched by heavy rainfall," she said in a sorrowful tone.

Ida added that she had to relieve herself in the dirty floodwaters or in a remote part of the cemetery as there was no toilet available.

Another resident, Jamila, said no doctors or city officers had visited or helped them. Fortunately, other residents whose houses were not flooded assisted them to build a public kitchen for the evacuees.

On Thursday morning, she only ate a plate of rice with a boiled egg, tempeh, and crackers. She did not have any lunch. "I don't know if I can eat tonight," she added.

The deplorable condition of evacuees was also seen in Petamburan subdistrict, West Jakarta, where at least 700 people have been left stranded by the authorities. There were no medical personnel or sanitation facilities.

The public health center (Puskesmas) in the area, which was supposed to remain open 24 hours to help them, was closed. Some 100 of them took shelter in the front yard of the Puskesmas.

Others took shelter in SDN 01 and SDN 03 elementary school buildings. Here they were helped by members of the Justice Party to set up a public kitchen.

Hadijah and her six children slept on the ground of the Puskesmas yard without any blanket or mattress.

"I had to spend the night here with my children. The mosquitoes were awful and it was really cold at night. Moreover, there are no medical officers around or adequate clean water," she said.

Hadijah and other flood victims had to use the flooded area as a public toilet.

In Bukit Duri subdistrict, South Jakarta, at least 1,800 evacuees, sheltered at the subdistrict office and at Attahiriyah Muslim University. There was also no adequate clean water supply.

According to Dr. Weningtyas of the Tebet Public Health Center, inadequate clean water supplies and poor sanitation had caused some evacuees to suffer from diarrhea. A 18-month-old baby was taken to the hospital suffering from severe diarrhea on Wednesday night.

She added also that since two days ago, at least 200 evacuees were brought to the public health center suffering from several ailments such as influenza, cough, fever, skin irritation and diarrhea.

"Without any preventive measures, the number of people afflicted is feared to increase," she said.