More relief pours in for victims of flood disaster
More relief pours in for victims of flood disaster
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Relief continued to pour in on Friday for the thousands of
victims affected by the devastating floods and landslides across
Indonesia which have claimed the lives of nearly 150 people over
the past two weeks.
Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said that the central
government is prepared to disburse Rp 500 billion of reserve
funds to support people still suffering from the floods and their
aftermath.
"If needed, the funds can be channeled to help the victims
affected by the disasters anytime," he told journalists in
Surabaya, East Java, where he witnessed the handover of medical
equipment and ambulances for 20 hospitals from the South Korean
government on Thursday.
Sujudi said that the assistance had been set aside for the
Ministry of Health from the compensation funds for the recent
fuel price increases.
Apart from that, he said, the government has allotted around
Rp 128 billion from the state budget to deal with the floods and
landslides across the country.
"It should be recognized that the amount of the money
earmarked to handle the disasters is very small. That's why we
continue to seek additional funds -- one source is from the
compensation funds," he said.
Sujudi said that the government has also deployed physicians
and medical equipment to help treat the flood victims in Jakarta
and other cities.
Aid also came from other countries through their embassies or
representatives in Jakarta, including the United States, Britain,
Australia, Canada, and China.
The European Union (EU) pledged on Thursday to extend Rp 20
billion in aid to flood victims across the country, expressing
sympathy for the victims.
Its humanitarian office, ECHO, has been conducting a "first
needs" assessment of the situation before disbursing the money.
EU officials said in a press statement that their immediate
concern is water sanitation, shelter and essential relief items,
emergency food rations, and the provision of drugs for the
treatment of water-borne diseases.
Also in Surabaya, Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa delivered Rp
55 million in funds for people suffering after floods and
landslides destroyed their homes in Bondowoso, Situbondo, and
Trenggalek regencies.
Of the fund, Rp 30 million goes to Situbondo; the worst hit
town, Rp 15 million to Bondowoso; and Rp 10 million to
Trenggalek.
Meanwhile, more than 6,000 refugees remained stranded in the
Central Java town of Kudus on Friday, after fresh flooding
inundated their houses, beginning on Wednesday night.
They were housed in temporary, makeshift accommodation centers
like mosques, schools, and the city's legislative building.
The affected areas included the villages of Jetis Kapuan,
Jatiwetan, Jatikulon, Karangturi, Setrokalangan, and Kaliwungu,
where the water level measured one meter in depth by Friday.
It had risen to 2.5 meters in certain areas, however.
Another 4,500 refugees in neighboring Jepara town, 60
kilometers east from the Central Java capital of Semarang, were
still not able to return home, as floodwaters were still at
between 100 and 150 centimeters in depth.
Most of them came from Welahan, Batukali, and
Ketilengsingolele villages, the worst areas hit by the flooding
after the collapse of two embankments there, triggered by the
overflow of the Kali Wulan river.
Japara Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Endang Sanjaya told The
Jakarta Post that the floods had also disrupted the main
Surabaya-Semarang route, where the depth of water had leveled off
at 70 centimeters.