Jamaludin and his friends, who are all former lepers, sit on a wooden bench and stare blankly at goats grazing in the yards of damaged buildings in Sicanang village.

'We have nothing to do. We're just hanging around,' said Jamaluddin, who has lost his leg to leprosy.

The isolated village in Belawan district was previously known as Sicanang Island and was once used as a special hospital for those with leprosy.

It is located in a fish farming and mangrove forest area. The houses there are often flooded during high tide.

As night fell, the village in Belawan district remained in the dark as state-electricity company PT PLN had cut the power because the occupants could not pay the bills.

'Now, our village is dark as PLN has disconnected the power,' said another villager, Sudirman.

Access to the village is also damaged and lined with shacks. The village surrounded by industry, including major companies such as PT Pelindo, PT Industri Baja Deli, Belawan Logistics Center, Belawan Deli Chemicals and Belawan International Container Terminal.

A PT PLN power plant is also located close to the village and state oil and gas company PT Pertamina is building the Arun-Belawan gas pipeline in the area.

Residents have also had their tap water cut.

'We don't have a tap water connection from the Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum [PDAM] state tap-water company. We use well pumps to obtain clean water, so we need electricity. As the power has been disconnected, we can't get clean water, even to drink,' said Nasir, a local community leader.

To add to these woes, the residents can no longer access free medicine for their illnesses since Sicanang Hospital was closed and moved to Lake Semono in Karo regency, North Sumatra, six months ago. The management of Sicanang village was also transferred from the health office to the social service office.

'What makes us sadder is the fact that we no longer have access to free medicine, ever since the authority of the facility was transferred from the health office to the social services office,' said Sudirman, who wears a sock on his other leg to cover his wounds.

The lepers have been living in Sicanang since 1982 and relying on cheap local alternative medical therapies.

North Sumatra is home to 973 lepers and former lepers.

As many as 358 lepers and former lepers live in Sicanang. The remainder live in Belidahan, Serdang Bedagai regency (375), Hutasalem, Lugoboti, Toba Samosir (165), and Lake Semono, Karo regency (175).

Leprosy disease counseling and technical service unit head at the North Sumatra social services office Baginda Napitupulu said the Sicanang Leprosy Hospital was no longer operating as a hospital, but as a counseling center for local residents run by the relevant agencies.

'Most of them [the lepers] have been ostracized by society and shunned by their families. Our program aims to help them, starting with handling their mental conditions,' Baginda said.

He said many members of the community regarded leprosy as a curse as well as being dangerous and could not accept the lepers, even though they had been cured.

Baginda said public awareness should be raised that lepers could be cured by taking routine medication for between six and 12 months, as the virus ' which gnaws on a patient's body ' can be eradicated with medication.

However, efforts to make people change their attitudes to those with leprosy will take time.

In the meantime, the lepers of Belawan are still living in darkness.

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