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Quake victims slowly returning to daily life
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 09/25/2007 3:17 PM
Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Bengkulu
Earthquake victims in Pasar Lais village in Lais district, North Bengkulu regency, began to return to their homes on Monday, 12 days after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake rattled parts of western Sumatra.
Wearing a baseball cap and holding a hammer, construction worker Supardi Sastromiharjo, 50, looked at the roof of a destroyed mosque across from his half-damaged house.
""I'm fixing the roof so I can put a tarpaulin on the top to cover half of the mosque area so that neighbors can do tarawih (evening prayers at Ramadhan),"" said Supardi, a father of two.
""This should be enough for Friday prayers too.""
Supardi, whose family stayed in a refugee camp around 400 meters from his house, along with 41 other families, said he decided to return home because his 12-year-old son was ill.
""My son had vomited many times and felt nauseous since last Friday but he's fine now. He went to school this morning,"" he said.
""He got sick because the tent we lived in was open and very accessible to the night wind, which is bad for your health.""
He said the family was still worried about aftershocks, however.
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency recorded four aftershocks on Monday afternoon with epicenters in western Sumatra.
A refugee at the camp, Kasmi, 25, said many families had decided to go back to their houses because their children caught fevers.
Supardi said the 24-square-meter tarpaulin tent he lived in occupied by up to eight families at one point. ""But the tent is being used only by only two families now. Many have gone home.""
Mirtaro Felina, 33, a village-appointed coordinator in the camp and also a victim, said the camp accommodated around 83 families.
""There are around 30 families still in the camp. They usually go home only to check on their belongings, they're afraid of theft, and then they come back to the camp,"" she said.
""They don't want to take any chances sleeping inside their damaged houses because they are worried about the prospect of aftershocks, which could destroy their homes and kill them instantly.""
Nanda, 35, who owns a kiosk selling basic commodities, said he had reopened his shop last Thursday after returning to the village.
""We fled the house and stayed at my mother-in-law's house in Mangga Dua village in Lais for several days,"" he said.
""But we returned home after we saw things were getting back to normal. Besides, we need the money to live.""
But he said business was still slow.
""I used to earn around Rp 1 million (US$106.4) a day before the quake occurred. But I've only got Rp 400,000 a day since we've reopened the business.""
Sutrisno, 27, who runs a photographic shop, said he had also found business was slow since reopening and that his takings had more than halved, from Rp 100,000 a day, to less than Rp 50,000 a day.
Lais district head Siti Qoriah said people had started leaving refugee camps in the area on Sunday because ""they feel safer as the number of aftershocks has decreased, while electricity and tap water are now available.""
""Most of the victims, however, still sleep in a tarpaulin tent outside their houses regardless of how well their houses' shape is. They're still afraid of more aftershocks that may occur in the future,"" she said.
""That's why we leave tents standing in refugee camps so victims can go back to the camps if a quake takes place.""
Siti said her administration had recorded 3,513 destroyed houses in the district.
Medical and logistical posts managed by political parties, non-governmental organizations and companies also reportedly started to close on Saturday.
