Flood victims, lamenting their fate, launch plea for help
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.