Search for 169 missing in flood-hit Nias to end

Search for 169 missing in flood-hit Nias to end

GUNUNGSITOLI, North Sumatra (JP): Search and rescue personnel
were still searching for 169 missing people in flood-hit Nias on
Sunday, but the search operation would be stopped on Wednesday,
or two weeks after devastating flooding that had killed 108
people.

Disaster center coordinator S. Halawa said on Sunday that Nias
regent Binahati B. Bacha had sent a note to the center about the
planned stoppage of the rescue operation on account of the time
already devoted to the effort.

"Fourteen days for the rescue operation is considered
sufficient," Halawa told The Jakarta Post.

Search and rescue team members, according to Halawa, are being
withdrawn from a number of disaster locations and victim
evacuation work is now concentrated on the district of Lahusa,
where more victims are believed to remain stranded.

In other areas such as Gomo, Telukdalam, Lolomatua, Lolowa'u,
Bawolato and Amandraya, no more victims were discovered during a
weekend three-day operation.

Halawa also said that relief aid continued to flood the
center, including Rp 1.25 billion (US$138,000) in cash, but the
distribution of the aid to the stricken areas had been hampered
by the collapse of bridges on the main road to the affected
areas.

"Large-scale relief aid will reach victims on Tuesday," Halawa
told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, a number of victims have been crying out for help.

"We want that aid to be sent quickly because we are all hungry
here," said Lawe, a victim in Lahusa district, who lost his
mother and brother.

All districts hit by the storm were in the southern half of
Nias island.

Most residents of the island were sleeping when the fierce
storm lashed southern districts early on July 31, triggering
floods and landslides that swept away more than 500 homes.

Hundreds of survivors are being housed in schools and churches
where local officials are operating public kitchens. Hundreds
more have taken shelter with relatives in unaffected areas.

Meanwhile, Nias Regent Binahati B. Bacha denied media reports
that logging by forestry firms was the main cause of the recent
violent flooding on Nias.

"There are no forest concessions on Nias island. We have two
concessions in Nias regency, but not on Nias island," he told the
Post.

He said the two concessions belonged to PT Gruti on Batu
island and PT Teluk Nauli on Belo island.

Nevertheless, the regent acknowledged that deforestation
caused by local people may be behind the recent flooding.

Local people started cutting down forest trees three years ago
and planted the lucrative shrubs that produce the fragrant
patchouli oil, which is worth Rp 1.2 million per kilogram.
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