Sulawesi flood victims in need of relief aid

JAKARTA (JP): Some 10,000 people, who have had their homes buried, swept away or destroyed by massive flooding and devastating landslides in several areas of North Sulawesi, have been living in squalid conditions and are facing inadequate stocks of food, clean water and medical supplies, an official said on Sunday.

"It's still raining on Sunday morning and the Tondano River water levels have remained high, up to 1.5 meters above the usual level," Manado Search and Rescue (SAR) officer Rotinsulu told The Jakarta Post by phone.

The natural disasters, which also wrecked several public facilities, including roads and bridges, hit the capital Manado and several neighboring towns.

"The people badly need clean water and food. Most of their belongings have been swept away by the flood," Rotinsulu said.

Some residents are also suffering from illnesses such as diarrhea, colds and respiratory problems.

Up until Sunday afternoon search efforts for victims in the affected areas continued.

A 16-member SAR team led by Manado SAR chief Sulaiman Kakoe has been dispatched to the Amurang district, about 70 kilometers south of Manado, to locate four members of the Mapala Tarsius nature activist group currently missing in the region.

"The four, among them students from Manado Polytechnic School, were reported missing on Saturday after the Ranoyapo River's strong current swept them away," Rotinsulu said.

"The four people were among a group of five students who were spending a night camping on the riverbank, and planned to participate in rock climbing training on the cliff adjacent to the Ranoyapo," he said.

"Suddenly the current swept them away with only one of the group evading danger. The SAR team were dispatched yesterday and we're still waiting for results," the officer added.

"It's difficult to reach the area as it is quite remote and the road is slippery ... we are also coordinating this search with the Provincial Natural Disaster Coordinating Unit," he said.

At least four people were killed, two infants missing and four other people injured when floods hit the regency on Friday.

On Saturday residents began cleaning up their houses, while traffic in various parts of the city was disrupted by piles of mud deposited on the busy roads.

Traffic leading to Manado did return to normal on Saturday after the mud was removed by the local Public Works Agency.

However, the 25-kilometer Tomohon-Manado road, which was cut off by flooding and landslides, has yet to be repaired, forcing motorists to use alternative routes.

According to Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) data, approximately 49 percent, or 139 regencies, in Indonesia are prone to natural disasters.

The latest devastating wave of disasters has hit several areas in Aceh, North and West Sumatra in the past few days, leaving dozens of fatalities and thousands of people homeless.

On Saturday, president of the Indonesian Red Cross, Mar'ie Muhammad, visited the flood-hit villages in Aceh accompanying the delivery of 20,000 aid packages for residents whose homes were devastated by recent floods.

Accompanied by two officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mar'ie also spoke with residents of flood- hit Peuniti and Ateuk Jawoo villages, Baiturrahman district.

Mar'ie, a former minister of finance, said the Indonesian Red Cross and the ICRC were cooperating in helping the residents by, among other things, giving aid packages which mostly contain medicine.

The Indonesian Red Cross also handed over Rp 400 million in cash, five tons of rice and 1.5 tons of dates to residents in eight regencies ravaged by floods.

Sixteen people were killed during flooding in the restive province of Aceh from Nov. 23 to Nov. 26. The flood, thought to be the biggest in Acehnese history, also forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes.

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh said that material losses were estimated at more than Rp 800 billion.

In a related development, Bukit Barisan Military chief Maj. Gen. IG Purnawa said in Padang, West Sumatra, on Saturday that the military would send heavy equipment to help rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the recent disaster.

He said the military was willing to help the government with heavy equipment and personnel to repair the damaged infrastructure. (edt/sur)