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