Aid flows in but more quakes may come

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 09/16/2007 2:42 PM

Adisti Sukma Sawitri and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb., The Jakarta Post, Bengkulu, Padang

Aid has begun to pour in Saturday to the areas worst hit by Wednesday's Sumatra earthquake, while the threat of more aftershocks remains.

At least 62 aftershocks, including five that struck on Saturday, as well as several tsunami warnings, have rattled the nerves of survivors.

Wednesday's quake killed 19 people and damaged thousands of buildings in Bengkulu and West Sumatra provinces.

Although daily life appears to have returned to normal, Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Najamudin was critical of reports saying the damage in his province had been less disastrous than in nearby West Sumatra.

He said many survivors in North Bengkulu and Muko Muko regencies continued to live in makeshift tents outside of houses heavily damaged on Wednesday.

""They're scared that their cracked houses could collapse on them if they stayed inside,"" Agusrin said Saturday.

The impact of the quake on Bengkulu is still being assessed. Of the 13 dead in the province, seven were from Muko Muko regency.

At lease six people were killed Wednesday in West Sumatra.

Residents in some remote areas of the affected provinces have protested, saying the influx of aid has failed to reach them.

Residents living between Lais in North Bengkulu and Muko Muko have blockaded roads with logs to slow down trucks carrying aid from Lais to the regency.

Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto visited several areas in North Bengkulu on Saturday and pleaded with survivors to be patient in waiting for aid.

""Please do not overreact or underestimate the disaster. Let's just work together to help the victims,"" he said in a meeting with Bengkulu administration officials.

He told the administration to focus on distributing aid and recording tallies of victims and damage to infrastructure and houses.

""The government will help residents rebuild their homes, but this can be done later. The most important thing is to make sure everybody is safe,"" Mardiyanto said.

Of the six dead in West Sumatra, three were crushed by collapsing buildings.

The worst-hit areas in West Sumatra were the Mentawai Islands and Pesisir Selatan regency.

Data gathered by the Citra Mandiri Foundation, a non-governmental environmental group that has a network in Mentawai, recorded that at least 800 buildings, including houses, churches, mosques, schools and government offices, were heavily damaged on Wednesday.

""North and South Pagai Islands were the worst hit. In Malakopa village, almost 100 percent of the 250 houses there were destroyed along with two churches and an elementary school.

""In Bulasat village, where two victims died, 16 houses and a church collapsed and many bridges and roads were damaged,"" the foundation's director, Sandang Paruhum, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

He said over 40,000 residents in the Mentawai Islands were still living in makeshift shelters on high ground and waiting for relief aid.

On Saturday, Mentawai regency administration officials were loading up food supplies, tents and blankets on board the ship KM Sumber Usaha Baru on its way to Sikakap port on Pagai Island, and on the ship KM Pulau Simasin to Maileppet port to South Siberut. The supplies are expected to reach their destinations Sunday morning.

In Pesisir Selatan regency, which directly borders Bengkulu, at least 3,000 buildings were damaged in the disaster. Although there have been no reports of casualties, thousands of residents are living in shelters.

In Padang city, more than 1,000 hospital patients were being treated in makeshift tents outside the hospitals.

West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi said Saturday that data was not yet available on the financial losses caused by Wednesday's quake and its aftershocks.

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