INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM NEWS PAPERS



Floods in Jakarta, Indonesia

5 February 2002

INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM NEWS PAPERS:

The floods, which have paralyzed the city for the last days, slowly started to recede on Thursday but remained an inconvenience for many.

Officials at the flood relief centre said the weather forecast is for continued and increasingly heavy rain over the next month in parts of the country, including the main island of Java.

Raya Siahaan, a secretary in the city's Center for Social Disturbance Control, said the floods had affected at least 365,450 people, or 93,387 families, across the capital

Public health officer Dr. Kusdiyanto at the Flood Monitoring Post admitted it was difficult for health officials to provide aid to the flood victims due to the limited number of rubber rafts available to evacuate them.

The Associated Press reported that the death toll has reached 33, including 10 victims in Jakarta, seven in the capital's satellite town of Bekasi, five on the resort island of Bali and two in Indonesia's second-largest city of Surabaya.

Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate their homes to seek shelter in mosques and schools located on higher ground. Although rains subsided on Wednesday (Jan. 30), authorities remain on high alert for more flooding.

Between 15 to 20 percent of Jakarta was under water on Wednesday afternoon, officials said. The figure for Thursday was not immediately available

Some residents said the floods, which swamped thousands of buildings and snarled up major highways, were worse than the last major inundation in 1996.

Jakarta governor Sutiyoso argued that the floods, following heavy rain which began on Saturday, were the result of weather and climate abnormalities that occurred every five years.

But environmentalist pointed out that rainfall had been no heavier than normal in the current rainy season.

They blamed the floods on years of bad city planning and corruption that had allowed green areas to be built on, causing more rain to run into the city's numerous rivers rather than soak into the soil.

UN AND GOVERNMENT MEETING ON JAKARTA FLOODS

Upon WHO request, an urgent UN-GoI meeting was held on Friday 1st of February at 14:30 h, to discuss about the floods in Jakarta.

Attendants: UNDP, OCHA, WFP, UNHCR, WHO, BAKORNAS (the national coordinating body for emergencies and disasters) and PPMK (Medical Crisis Center, MOH)

Outcomes from the meeting:

• BAKORNAS could not provide right figures about victims, casualties, evacuated, etc. but must probably SATKORLAK (the same than BAKORNAS but at provincial level).

• PPMK informed that the Health Centres in West and East Jakarta are in 24 h duty and. There are 6 mobiles medical teams assisting the victims in different places.

• They have enough medicines and medical supplies but the main problem is to access to the more affected areas where the population is sitting on the roofs waiting to be evacuated. These areas are only accessible by boat (rubber rafts, zodiac, etc)

• UN agencies kindly offered support as follows:

o WFP: food

o UNHCR: logistic technical advise

o WHO: all needs related to primary health cares including financial support for extra-medical teams.

o UNDP: funds to finance meetings, workshops, training, etc.

o OCHA: coordination role

• BAKORNAS and SATKORLAK will be in charge to coordinate the assistance and together with PPMK will produce asap, “Indication Guide-Lines” by specifying what are the needs, access systems, distribution plans, etc. (like a Plan of Action)

• OCHA will appoint a new meeting by Monday (to be confirmed)

Last news about floods in Jakarta: Monday, February 04, 2002 - 08:00 h

According to SATKORLAK about 113.000 (IDPs) people have been sheltered in about 45 shelter centers in Jakarta. Most of these IDPs moved for themselves to the centers and about 10% were evacuated.

Satkorlak also confirmed the figures of 33 deceased in the country wild, 20 of them in Jakarta.

During the weekend the army was evacuating people with boats under SATKORLAK coordination (well coordination)

Satkorlak also informed there are not major needs. Health Centers have enough medicines and medical supplies, there is enough food in the shelter centers.

Yesterday, Sunday, was a not raining day but rain started again during last night and continues this morning. Weather forecast confirms two more weeks raining.

Floods in Jakarta: LAST INFORMATION FROM NEWS PAPERS- Monday, 04 February

An official at the Geophysical and Meteorological Agency (BMG), Mr. Maman, said the rains were linked to typhoon Chris which is moving from Australia at a speed of five knots, or about 9 km/hr, but could reach 55 knots soon. There will be bad rains in the coming days, but they will eventually ease by the end of this month,".

Apart from the trash clogging up waterways, other factors contributing to the floods in the city were high tides in the Java Sea, the poor state of the drainage system and unregulated building on catchment area. Another reason for the city's vulnerability to floods is the fact that around 40 percent of the capital lies below sea level

In terms of surface, the floods are now covering between 15 to 20 percent of the city's surface, mainly in West and East Jakarta, but the water is slowly receding," a Jakarta Flood Control Post official said Sunday

On Saturday long queues formed at the city's main supermarkets as residents went on a buying spree in anticipation of a food shortage due to distribution difficulties.

On Saturday, Industry and Trade Minister Rini Suwandi warned that flood problems could mean the capital's food stock was only estimated to last for two weeks

The death toll from flood-related incidents in the capital and satellite towns since Tuesday now stands at 29. At least 26 more people have died elsewhere in the archipelago, according to officials and media reports.

WHO ACTION:

WHO is in contact with Minister of Health Crisis Centre (PPMK) and with UN Security Officer in order to bridge GoI and UN for quickly response to the needs. (i.e. WHO facilitated the way to obtain and distribute water purification tablets)

Upon PPMK request, WHO supplied the mobile medical teams appropriated equipment.

WHO/INO Program Officer is following up the situation of the WHO staff affected by the floods and monitoring the needed support.

To be announced by Georg Petersen, in a press conference today

(Tuesday, 05/02/2002):

World Health Organization (WHO) has devoted US$ 60.000 to support Ministry of Health in floods relief assistance.

Following indications from Dr. Dadi Argadiredja, Secretary General of Ministry of Health and in order to support relief operations to face the floods, WHO/INO has acquired the following items:

• 10 inflatable boats (7 – 12 people capacity)

• 10 outboard motor engine (15 HP each).

• 20 sets of floating rollers

• 10 pairs of oars

• 25 pairs of Wellington boots

• 10.000 rapid water purifier sachets

• 10.000 water purifier tablets

These items will be delivery today, Tuesday,05/02/2002, to the Medical Crisis Centre in the Ministry of Health (PPMK).

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