TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Floods hit Siberut Island, three dead, more displaced
Floods on Siberut Island, Mentawai Islands regency, West Sumatra, over the last three days have claimed the lives of three people and swamped three villages
Change Size
Floods on Siberut Island, Mentawai Islands regency, West Sumatra, over the last three days have claimed the lives of three people and swamped three villages.
When the banks of the Sikabaluan River burst, as many as 205 homes in Monganpoula village, 140 in Sotboyak villages and 174 in Sikabaluan village were flooded. Farms located along the river growing bananas, yams, ground nuts and other cash crops were destroyed.
"Some houses have been submerged up to their roof," a resident from Muara Sikabaluan, North Siberut, Bambang Sagurung, 24, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Three people reportedly drowned in the Sikabaluan River on Tuesday. Jheki Cheli, 16, from Muara Sikabaluan, drowned when the motorboat he was in capsized at the mouth of the Sikabaluan River.
"His body was found on a beach at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. We will send his remains to his parents," North Siberut district chief Sahad Pardamaian said.
The two other victims, Martina, 27, and her son, Riko, 3, of Sotboyak, also drowned after their boat tipped over in the Sikabaluan River on Tuesday afternoon. They were returning home from their farm with Togat, 30, Martina's husband, when the accident occurred.
"The boat lost control and later overturned because of the swift river current. Mother and son were pinned between the boat and a sago trunk tied to the boat," said Bambang.
Sahad said floods had been prevalent in the three villages since 2003.
Bambang said during the search for Jheki, many tree logs were seen scattered in the area. The logs, likely felled by timber companies, drifted into the river.
"We're not sure whether or not the logs were legally felled," Sahad said.
Mentawai Islands Regent Edison Saleleubaja banned logging activities on Siberut two years ago, while the Andalas Madani Cooperatives' forest concession area in North Siberut is still operating.
