Jakarta flood victims now hit by disease, depression

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As floods have begun to recede in the last few days another threat has emerged. Hundreds of thousands of evacuees throughout the city are now suffering from various illnesses and emotional distress.

The City Health Agency has recorded that about 380,000 flood victims are suffering from various illnesses, mainly influenza, diarrhea and skin ailments.

Flood victims have put the blame on the lack of clean water.

Thames PAM Jaya and the Jakarta administration have deployed 12 water tanker trucks to temporary shelters throughout the city but still the number of trucks is far from sufficient for the thousands of evacuees.

Some evacuees in Halim Perdanakusumah area in East Jakarta had to make use of the muddy floodwater to wash their clothes while others used it to bathe. In Cipinang Besar, in the same municipality, some evacuees -- specially children suffering from diarrhea -- used the floodwater to defecate.

Should no clean water be available in the near future, physical conditions will worsen.

Besides physical illness, most evacuees also suffered from psychological problems.

"We are feeling cold and tired but we are also feeling very disappointed, neglected and angry," said Husen, one of the flood victims in Cipinang, East Jakarta, whose house was flooded up to two meters.

On Monday morning, the water level in his house dropped to only 40 centimeters. However, some parts of the house were damaged while the floor was covered by thick mud and smelly garbage.

"We all felt depressed and have been complaining all the time," he said, adding he had no idea who to blame.

Many other residents in inundated areas also experienced depression.

An evacuee, Misno, said they had been assisted by a non- governmental organization during the flood.

"When we first sought refuge, we were only able to stay on the side of a road. Later on an organization helped us set up a temporary shelter," he said, adding evacuees could only rely on help from individuals or private companies in the area.

In a shelter in Cipinang Besar, the city administration only handed over two tons of rice, 1,000 packaged meals and medicines. "We have distributed half of the rice and medicines to the residents here," claimed an officer.

The figure was insignificant compared to assistance from the public.

Many shelters in the city had not received adequate assistance from the administration by Monday afternoon.

Shelters set up in the open air, including the one in a graveyard in Cipinang, could hardly protect the evacuees from bad weather due to the shortage of mats and blankets.

Worse still the administration had missed several shelters when distributing aid to the evacuees, such as the one in Halim.

Not all the aid could be made use of by the residents. Rice and instant noodles were barely touched as they had no cooking equipment.

"How can we cook if our pots and pans are left submerged in our houses? How can we cook without clean water?" complained a female evacuee.

As of Monday, the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) had received at least 30 complaints from middle-class Jakartans, claiming to be victims of the flood, who were ready to file a class action against those responsible for the environmental damage.

Governor Sutiyoso announced the administration would use an emergency fund, amounting to Rp 505 billion (US$49 million), for an after-flood rehabilitation program.

Fifteen trucks brought food and clothes, including underwear, for flood victims in the city's five municipalities on Monday.

The aid was bought using part of a Rp 1 billion fund from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Rp 200 million from the Gandhi Memorial School.

The ministry and Jakarta Youth Wing, comprising 23 organizations, also delivered some basic commodities to flood victims. Embassies, schools and private companies have been working hand-in-hand to help to flood victims around the city.