Governor agrees with relocation plan

Governor agrees with relocation plan

PURWOREJO, Central Java (JP): Central Java Governor Mardiyanto
expressed his agreement on Wednesday to the Purworejo regent's
suggestion to resettle residents affected by the recent
landslides in the area but added that talks with the residents
were needed before the plan could go ahead.

Speaking to journalists during his visit to the village of
Kemanukan in the Bagelen district, Mardiyanto stressed that
discussions between the provincial and regency administrations
and the affected residents were crucial.

"The residents must be consulted about the plan," he said but
declined to say where the residents might be relocated to.

The regent of Purworejo, Marsaid, said on Tuesday that
resettlement of the residents of the 14 villages devastated by
the deadly landslides on Sunday was a must after it was
determined that the affected areas were not suitable for living
in.

Marsaid said he hoped that a donor would pioneer the
resettlement plan.

In terms of aid, the governor said that during the first 15
days the residents would mostly need food. "We must move fast.
Aid in the first 15 days should be in the form of food stuffs. In
the next 15-day period medicine, building materials and
stationary for school children will be distributed."

"I don't have any idea when the situation will return to
normal," he said.

The governor donated cash totaling Rp 35 million and four tons
of rice for the disaster affected residents. While the Diponegoro
Military chief Maj. Gen. Sumarsono donated two tons of rice, with
another two tons of rice coming from the Central Java State
Logistics Agency and from the provincial village cooperatives.

Regent Marsaid said that his office had received various
donations from the public, including Rp 40 million in cash, 11
tons of rice, 745 boxes of instant noodles and medicine.

"The cash total does not include the money collected by the
villagers through donation boxes put on roadsides," he said.

Meanwhile, rescue workers reported that another body was found
on Wednesday, bringing the total bodies recovered to 48. The body
of Sutejo, 46, a resident of Kemanukan village, was recovered
from the debris of his house which had been buried under two
meters of mud, a rescue worker said.

Records indicated that eight people were still missing.

Most of the roads in the affected districts were still blocked
by mud.

The traffic between the regency of Purworejo (Central Java)
and the Kulonprogo regency in Yogyakarta has yet to return to
normal.

Mardiyanto said the administration would borrow heavy
equipment from the military to repair the damaged infrastructure
in the three districts. (23/sur)