"As many as 60 people in Walma district died between May and August. This figure does not include deaths in other districts. I have not received a full report yet," the head of the Yahukimo disaster response team, Yuliat Iksomon, told The Jakarta Post by phone.

He said seven districts in Yahukimo - Suntamon, Langda, Bomela, Seredala, Walma, Pronggoli and Heryekpini - were severely crippled by food shortages.

The widespread food shortages have been attributed to heavy rains, which have been falling relentlessly since May, and caused subsequent harvest failures.

"Staple crops, such as tubers, have rotted due to incessant rains," Yuliat said.

The scarcity of food has led to a spike in diseases, such as malaria and diarrhea, with a number of people from Walma district reportedly dying from gastric illnesses.

"People have died from illnesses such as diarrhea as a result of not getting enough quality food," he said.

The coordinator of the Indonesian Social Services Christian Foundation (Yakpesmi), Rev. Isak Kipka, said that based on data he had received, nearly 100 people died in the regency between January and August.

Information gathered during visits to four districts found that more than 31 people had died in Langda, 34 in Bomela, nearly 20 in Seredala and 10 in Suntamon.

"Food is still available, but there is not much. If people previously would eat twice per day, they only eat once daily now," said Isak.

Yakpesmi had reported these identified cases to Yuliat, who later forwarded the report to the regency administration, he said.

"I have reported the matter to the administration but not received a response. So I am now telling the media," Yuliat said.

During the food shortages in 2006, Yuliat said, the central government built storage facilities to stock food in anticipation of any future harvest failure, but they were now empty and unused.

The people most at risk, Isak said, were generally those living on mountain slopes or areas of higher elevation which can only be reached by foot or small plane.

Yahukimo Deputy Regent, Daniel Rendeng, told the Post he had not yet received an official report from the districts, or from the disaster response team. He did claim however that his office had coordinated with the relevant agencies to immediately send a team to the affected locations to assess the real situation on the ground.

"I received a call from Pak Rizal Malarangeng, from the special staff of the coordinating minister for the people's welfare, after reading the reports in the newspapers. We immediately formed a team to obtain accurate data about the conditions faced by residents in the villages, especially surrounding the number and causes of deaths," said Rendeng.

He was aware the Yahukimo regency administration had provided food assistance in the past, especially to Walma district, but was unaware of any food shortages since then.

Rendeng said the weather in Yahukimo had been poor in the past four months, restricting access to the districts by any means other than flying. However, for the last eight months the government had been providing the villages with funding from the Rural Development Program to counteract these problems.

Rendeng said the construction of 12 food storage facilities in Yahukimo regency by the Office of the Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare in 2006 had proven to be inefficient.

"Tubers rotted if they were kept in those storage places, so they were left unused. Residents instead kept tubers in the ground," he said.

Rendeng urged all parties to work together to improve people's overall welfare. "If something is going wrong, please report it to the government so it can receive immediate attention."

Popular

Is Indonesia really ready to embrace dual citizenship?

Tens of thousands seek better lives in Jakarta. But is the city losing its draw?

Elon Musk's Starlink granted licences to operate in Indonesia