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View all search resultsAceh evacuees face rising disease risks amid limited food, sanitation
Data from the Health Ministry shows that between Nov. 25 and Dec. 21, more than 11,160 displaced residents in Aceh suffered from upper respiratory tract infections.
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Thirst in the deluge: A girl draws water from a storage tank on Dec. 15, in Babo, Aceh Tamiang, Aceh, following a flash flood. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
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early a month after devastating floods and landslides struck Aceh, thousands of evacuees are still struggling with inadequate food and poor sanitation in temporary shelters, leaving many vulnerable to disease.
Fitri, 45, an evacuee from Serba village in Aceh Tamiang regency, said she has been feeding her five-year-old child instant noodles almost every day due to the lack of nutritious food assistance.
“We eat instant noodles on a daily basis. This is the only food we have at the moment,” she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The single mother said her home was destroyed when a 12-meter-high flash flood swept through the village last month. Emergency assistance reached the area only a week later, as flood damage left the village isolated.
“In the first days, we survived on whatever food we managed to save,” she said. “Now aid has arrived, but it’s still mostly instant noodles.”
Mustika Habibi, another evacuee from Tanjung Karang village in Aceh Tamiang regency, said that in addition to meager food rations, displaced residents are also facing poor sanitation conditions.
“Nearly a month after the disaster, we still don’t have proper toilets,” she told the Post. “If we need to relieve ourselves, we have to dig holes in the ground and bury the waste.”
