Flooding continues, children miss classes

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Kebumen

The floods that hit Kebumen, Banyumas and Cilacap regencies in southwest Central Java have been subsiding, but dozens of schools in the three regencies were still flooded or water damaged, preventing children from returning to school after a one-week holiday.

Banyumas spokesman Didi Rudwianto said the authorities could do nothing to assist the schools, except to issue an instruction for children not to go to school.

He said the local administration was currently looking for alternative places that could be used as temporary schools.

Public buildings such as village halls and district halls were still full of people displaced by floods and therefore could not be used as temporary schools.

"If necessary, we will erect tents for learning-teaching activities," he said.

Despite the filthy state of the buildings, a number of schools affected by floods in Banyumas were open on Monday, with children helping out to clean their schools.

Meanwhile, flooding in Kebumen, Cilacap and Banyumas had subsided, with fewer districts and villages inundated by floodwaters. Nevertheless, about 3,000 people were still staying at public buildings and makeshift shelters spread throughout 61 villages in eight districts in Kebumen.

Meanwhile in Banyumas, around 4,000 people were still staying at temporary shelters, while in Cilacap the number had dropped to only 400 people.

Authorities in the three most flood-affected regencies are working hard to administer medicine to flood victims who are suffering from various ailments, ranging from skin diseases to diarrhea.

The head of Cilacap's public health service office, Sunarni, said she had assigned all her staff to flood-hit areas to distribute medicine and chlorine.

The Kebumen health office sent out all its staff to the temporary shelters in various villages.

"For the time being, we only have records of skin diseases and diarrhea. We have not received any report of endemic diseases," a staff member at the Kebumen health office said.

In Banyumas, the authorities have allocated Rp 400 million (US$40,000) to buy supplies of medicine and administer them to flood victims.

Besides flooding, fresh landslides hit Banyumas on Sunday night, burying at least 46 houses in Besuki village, Lumbir district.

No fatalities were reported as a result of the landslide, but people living in the affected houses had to stay with neighbors.

Meanwhile, in Kebumen, landslides had hit 11 villages in three districts. Ayah district was the worst hit, with eight villages affected by the landslides, including Jintung, Mangunweni, Watukelir, Pasir, Argosari, Kalibangkang, Argopeni and Kalipoh.

In Mangunweni, a landslide damaged over one hundred houses, forcing 300 people living in those houses to evacuate.

Two weeks ago, nine people were killed in a landslide in Penusupan village, Kebumen.

As of Monday, 500 people displaced by landslides were still living in temporary shelters.