Slow relief operation upsets quake victims

Slow relief operation upsets quake victims

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya (JP): Tension mounted among local officials in Irian Jaya yesterday over the slow pace of the government's operation to send relief aid to the victims of Saturday's devastating earthquake off Biak Island.

Officials in Jayapura admitted that the dispatch of the relief aid had been slow, but this was chiefly because of poor transportation facilities rather than lack of stocks.

On Wednesday, Biak Regency Chief Amandus Masnembra complained at what he saw as the slow response from government agencies in Jayapura to the needs of the islanders.

Biak took the brunt of the earthquake, which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale. More than 2,000 houses on the island were demolished by the tremor, or by the huge tidal waves that swept many coastal villages in the north and south of the island.

Several smaller islands near Biak were believed to have been affected although the extent of damage is not immediately clear because they have been cut off from the rest of the world.

In Manokwari, the main town on Irian Jaya's Bird's Head region, more than 3,600 lost their homes in the tidal waves.

By last night, the death toll from the earthquake was put at 96 with the number expected to rise. More than 50 people are still missing. Another 43 were being treated with serious injury.

Government officials estimate that as many as 10,000 people are homeless.

As many as 150 fishing boats were destroyed.

Most of Biak was without electricity because the hydropower plant was out of order.

Budi Subianto, deputy chief of the Irian Jaya Health Office, said the relief operation should be supported by helicopters because they were the only means of reaching villages on Biak and smaller islands around it. "But not a single helicopter has been made available," he said.

Given the current monsoon, officials in Biak were not willing to take the risk of sailing to the smaller islands, he said.

His office has contacted the Mission Aviation Fellowship which runs several aircraft from Wamena, to take part in the distribution of relief supplies. The Australian embassy in Jakarta, which has financed many health projects in Irian Jaya, has also been approached for help, he added.

Chief of the Irian Jaya Social Services Office Sukirdiyono took particular offense at the accusation made by Amandus Masnembra, which was widely published by the media yesterday.

"We've done a lot, yet he felt it was inadequate," Sukirdiyono said, adding that the remarks "really hurt".

He said however that Amandus has apologized for the remarks.

The Irian Jaya Social Services Office has sent 20 tons of rice, three large tents, kitchen utensils, plastic mats, kerosene lamps, cooking stoves, and clothes, he said. They were sent by a Hercules transport airplane to Biak.

"We badly need more tents because many people were left homeless," he said.

The health authorities in Jayapura have also sent doctors and medicines to Biak.

Captain Cipuk of the Biak military command confirmed yesterday that the relief supplies had arrived and were being distributed by troopers.

Budi Subianto of the Health Office said he feared outbreaks of diarrhea and upper respiratory infections among the islanders because most of them do not have access to clean water.

"The well waters on the island have been contaminated. People have to make do with water from the river and whatever they can collect from the rain."

Meanwhile, residents in Biak said yesterday that islanders were trying to restart the economy, with many people reporting to work and shops resuming their trade.

There were also long queues at gasoline stations, they said.

The disaster has also destroyed many on-going community projects, including one run by the Rumsam Biak Foundation for the development of a "people-tourism" project.

Binny Buchori, who works as a consultant for the project, said the 1,000 participating beneficiaries of the project on the Padaido islands east of Biak have lost everything in the disaster, from their homes to all their belongings.

"We've postponed the project. Now we're focusing our attention on rehabilitation programs," she said. (prs/emb/Binny Buchori)