U.S. extends aid to flood victims

U.S. extends aid to flood victims

JAKARTA: The U.S. government has provided emergency aid worth
US$50,000 to flood and landslide victims on Flores island, East
Nusa Tenggara.

The aid will be distributed through USAID, the U.S.
international development agency, to some 2,000 victims of the
natural disaster, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement released
on Saturday.

The aid will take the form of medical equipment, beds and
kitchen utensils, it said.

USAID would also help provide fresh water to rural people
whose areas had been hit by the disaster.

At least 59 people were killed and over 500 families left
homeless by flash floods in three districts in Flores on April 2.
Some 26 people are still missing following the disaster.

The floods damaged hundreds of kilometers of road, three dams
and irrigation systems, as well as thousands of hectares of paddy
field.

USAID provided emergency aid worth more than $7 million for
the victims of natural disasters in Indonesia during 2002. -- JP