Garbage aggravates post-flood illnesses

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Flood victims started to return home over the last few days but sickness threatens in the next three weeks unless the piles of garbage in various flooded areas are collected.

"We are currently at a critical stage as post-flood illness, especially diarrhea, begins to occur. The situation has been worsened by the garbage still awaiting collection in several areas that were flooded," said head of the City Health Agency, Abdul Cholik Masuli, on Thursday.

"We will order all puskesmas (community health centers) across the city to open 24 hours per day starting on Feb. 15. I admit it was rather late but at present we are still gathering together teams of health workers to be at the puskesmas."

As of Thursday, 18,000 people, most of whom come from West Jakarta, have been suffering diarrhea, with 195 of them hospitalized. They were admitted to Tarakan city hospital on Jl. Kyai Caringin, Central Jakarta. Of the 195 patients, 166 of them were children under five years of age.

Cholik has appealed to the sanitation agency to deal with the piles of garbage.

The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) echoed similar concern.

IDI secretary-general Dr. Dody Firmanda said the piles of garbage -- which contain viruses, bacteria and parasites -- were the ideal medium for spreading sickness.

"Flies will carry the germs to evacuees' food and drinking supply," he said.

The bacteria would then infect the human digestive system and cause diarrhea.

Dody warned evacuees to be on the alert about personal hygiene by cleaning their environment.

Discarded musty and grubby garbage -- comprising debris from shanty dwellings, furniture, mud and household scrap -- was seen piling up in several flooded areas, mostly located near the temporary shelters where the victims took refuge.

Both sidewalks along Kampung Melayu flyover, East Jakarta, were filled with garbage covered by mud. Evacuees were seen using the sidewalks to dry their clothes and cooking tools.

Ibu Endang, who lives in the area, said the absence of garbage carts or litter bins forced her to throw garbage onto the sidewalk.

"We're all tired and there's nowhere to dispose of garbage. That's why I put them on the sidewalk. Let the garbage men handle it," she complained.

Endang said the garbage had remained uncollected for more than a week. Only scavengers came regularly to collect discarded plastic and steel.

Similar scenes could also be observed along Jl. Teluk Gong Raya and Jl. Tubagus Angke in North Jakarta where the accumulating garbage could be seen piling up in front of a foodstall. The garbage had been left there for four days.

Along Jl. Cipinang Raya and Jl. Bekasi Timur Raya in East Jakarta, garbage was also scattered on the sidewalk on both sides of the road.

City Sanitation Agency deputy chief Rama Boedi said on Wednesday that his office had deployed 113 trucks to collect 30,000 cubic meters of garbage every day, a 20 percent increase on normal.

The agency has also cooperated with the Army, which has deployed personnel to clean up garbage in several places that suffered flooding. Unfortunately, all such efforts were still far from sufficient. Mountains of garbage could still be seen in those areas.