Jakarta flood victims now hit by disease, depression

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.