Landslide affected residents to be resettled: Regent

By Israr Ardiansyah

PURWOREJO, Central Java (JP): Purworejo regent HM Marsaid says that the areas devastated by the recent landslide are not suitable for living in and resettlement of the residents is a must.

Speaking to journalists who interviewed him at the most severely hit village of Kemanukan on Tuesday, Marsaid said that it looked impossible for the people to return to their homes where everything had been destroyed by the landslide.

"There is a village without any buildings," he said. "But, I have no idea where the resettlement area will be. I also hope that a donor would pioneer the resettlement plan."

He did not reveal whether he had consulted the residents about the relocation plan.

The situation in the landslide-hit villages looked normal. No sob or cry was heard.

Local people were busy collecting their belongings from the debris. They said they would keep their belongings at relatives' houses in neighboring villages.

Donation boxes were put here and there. The regent said no one had opened the boxes. "The use of the money will be supervised by the head of development affairs in each village," he said.

The Kemanukan village also looked normal, despite the fact that the village was almost totally destroyed. The Karangrejo neighborhood (dusun) was totally covered by soil and mud from the 70-meter high hill which collapsed last week.

To journalists' surprise, the village of Kemanukan has become a "tourist site."

"Most of the people flocking to the village are visitors, who are just sight seeing, not helping the rescue workers or the residents," said regent Marsaid.

As of Tuesday evening, the road connecting the Kaligesing district in the Purworejo regency with the Kulonprogo regency was still blocked by mounds of soil.

With two dead bodies found on Tuesday, the death toll reached 47, the joint rescue team confirmed. The two bodies were of Saru (57) and Marsini (41) residents of Karangrejo village, the rescuers said.

"Six people were reported missing. Five are residents of Kemanukan village, Bagelen district, and one is from Plipir village in the Kaligesing district," a local who joined the rescue team said.

Survivors recalled that the disaster started at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning with a thundering sound.

"I stayed up on that night. I heard a very terrible sound and the electricity suddenly went out. I had no idea what was happening," a 70-year-old woman of the Kemanukan village said.

She said she asked her son to hit the kentongan (a drum made from bamboo) to alert the villagers as she believed something was wrong. "None of us dared to find out what was going on outside."

"Later, after daybreak I learned that the house of Paimin, my neighbor, had disappeared. A huge pile of soil and tall trees covered his house," she said. Paimin's house was some 15 meters away from hers.

"I saw that the concrete electricity pole was broken," she added. All members of her family survived the calamity.

Daryono, 33, had a different story. The man who lived in another neighborhood said that his uncle's wife was "swallowed" by the landslide.

"My uncle told me he and his wife were walking hand in hand leaving the area when the landslide began. My uncle was thrown by a sliding land flow. He hit a coconut tree, and could not save his wife. Later he was informed that his wife's parents were also buried in the mud."

Meanwhile aid has been flooding into the three districts ravaged by the landslide.