Nabire administration seeks Rp 1.5 trillion for quake victims

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura

Hundreds of residents in Nabire regency, Papua province, are still living in tents in their villages two months after a disastrous earthquake devastated the remote town in February, killing at least 37 people.

Students in affected areas were also forced to study under makeshift tents as their schools had been destroyed or damaged by the quake, which measured 6.9 on the Richter scale.

Nabire Regent AP Youw said on Tuesday his administration needed some Rp 1.5 trillion (US$174 million) in aid to rebuild the devastated town after the Feb. 6, 2004 disaster.

"The fund will be used to renovate offices, houses, clean water installations, hospitals, schools, bridges, streets, an airport, seaport and other public facilities," he said.

Youw was speaking to journalists after a meeting with Papua Governor Jaap Salossa in the provincial capital of Jayapura to report the impact of the quake.

The regent said the Nabire administration had so far received only Rp 3.5 billion in aid and the money was being used to provide clean water, tents for schools and other emergency necessities to the victims.

The Rp 100 billion in aid, promised by former coordinating minister for people's welfare Jusuf Kalla during his visit to Nabire on Feb. 7, had not yet been received by the local administration, Youw said.

"Local people have several times asked when the money would be handed over to Nabire, while Pak Jusuf Kalla has quit his ministerial post.

"I have also asked Pak Governor Salossa and he told me he had not yet got the money from central government," Youw said.

He said that between Feb. 26 and April 18, the Army had helped rebuild at least one elementary school, a church, a mosque, two military dormitories and two houses, providing the disaster victims with free medical treatment.

"Only the Army has so far given rehabilitation assistance worth Rp 1 billion through its Sekata Dalam Nestapa Foundation," the regent said.

He said the Nabire administration had allocated Rp 38 billion from its 2004 budget for the rehabilitation projects covering 430 houses, construction materials for 1,000 homes, eight schools and four community health centers (Puskesmas).

The Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure has allotted about Rp 16 billion, Rp 10 billion of which would be used to rebuild five mosques and seven churches. The remaining Rp 6 billion is earmarked be spent renovating the clean water facility.

The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration had also promised to channel aid to rebuild at least 534 houses.

Youw said the powerful earthquake killed at least 37 people, seriously injured 115, with 477 others moderately hurt.

The quake also destroyed or damaged 7,000 houses, 60 school buildings, 53 places of worship, an airport, seaport, hospital, sections of streets, and swept away nine bridges.

The Papua Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said the epicenter was about seven kilometers east of Nabire and 80 kilometers deep.

On Oct. 10, 2002, a tectonic earthquake rocked the Ransiki area in Manokwari, Papua, claiming the lives of at least three people and damaging hundreds of houses.

In 1996 a powerful quake hit Biak and Manokwari, causing a major tsunami that ripped through hundreds of houses in coastal areas. At least 96 people were reported dead.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic nation, is vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because of its location on the Pacific "ring of fire" -- volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin.