By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, March 29 (ANTARA) - Various humanitarian assistance has been flowing to the victims of the Gintung dam tragedy which killed at least 97 people and caused 102 others gone missing in Cireundeu village, in Jakarta's southern outskirts, and until Saturday night, rescue workers were still facing problems of distributing the aid due to difficult access to the makeshift and other emergency tents.
Packages of assistance continue to come in but some are still placed at the command post of the Muhammadiyah University's School of Economics (STIE UMJ). "We could not yet decide when all of the assistance will be channeled," Uus Rustandi of the STIE UNI post command, said.
Several roads to various emergency tents are difficult to access due to damaged conditions. Access roads are narrow so that vehicles transporting the aid could not pass by.
Vehicles faced difficulties on Saturday to pass through the access road because they were also packed with various kinds of vehicles and people who come to seek for missing family members or who visited the area to witness the disaster locations.
Various visitors from the surrounding areas and towns in the Jakarta vicinity such as Serpong, Bekasi and Depok came to the locations to witness themselves the ruins left by the tragedy.
Until Sunday afternoon, 97 bodies had been found and 102 others were still missing. Besides, a total of 180 have been taken to hospitals to get immediate medical treatment, while over 360 are still staying at evacuation centers or emergency tents.
The tragedy occurred on Friday when the sluice gate of the 21-hectare lake in Cireundeu village, Ciputat, Tangerang district, Banten, broke down early on Friday.
Built in the 1930s and held an estimated water volume of 21 million cubic meters, the aging Gintung reservoir collapsed because it was unable to accommodate more water on account of heavy rains which poured down in some districts in Banten and West Java provinces all night long on Thursday.
At least 300 houses in two housing complexes in downstream area were affected by the dam's flash floods which swept through a two-km stretch of area in the Cireundeu village that borders with the southern part of Jakarta.
In the meantime assistance continued to flow from different bodies, agencies and individuals. The Japanese Red Cross in cooperation with Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has sent "Family Kits" to the victims.
"The Family Kits from PMI and Japanese Red Cross contain various household utensils," Uus Rustandi.
He said the assistance in around 100 bags consisted of plastic containers, washbasins, plastic dishes, plastic glasses, water dippers, spoons, towels, tooth brushes and tooth pastes, bathing soaps, instant noodles, and mineral water.
"The assistance has arrived," Rustandi said, adding that a post command at UMJ campus was open 24 hours to receive humanitarian assistance from various parties.
The Health Ministry has also sent two tons of baby food and medication. "We have dispatched two tons of baby food and two packages of medicines," Dr Rustam S Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's Crisis Control Center, said.
The medication packages included anti-tetanus serum (ATS), standing air-conditioners, tents, body bags, snake bite antidote and operational fund amounting to Rp50 million.
Previously, STIE UMJ post command field coordinator Berlianingsih said that the victims needed baby food badly. She said that she had received requests from volunteer workers and evacuees that the victims badly in need for baby food.
"Rescue workers always asked about whether stocks of baby food were enough or not. But we are facing difficulties to meet the needed stuff," she said.
Berlianingsih said that floods carried away the victims' dresses and household utensils. Besides baby food stuff, the victims also needed other items such as blankets, towels, T-shorts, slippers and mat.
Since the tragedy took place on Friday, rescue workers at the Ahmad Dahlan High School for Economics have been channeling assistance from the public in the form of food, blankets, children dresses and mineral water.
In the meantime, General Chairman of Golkar Party M Jusuf Kalla has also provided assistance worth Rp1 billion for the victims of the Gintung dam disaster.
The assistance was symbolically handed over to Banten Governor Ratu Atut when the Golkar organized a campaign at the Senayan Sports Stadium on Saturday.
"Let us convey our prayers to the dead victims of the Gintung reservoir tragedy. May they rest in peace," Kalla, who is also the vice president, said after he asked cadres and sympathizes of Golkar to extend their prayers for the victims.
In its part, the government will also continue to carry out emergency response to the Gintung disaster. "The emergency response will be continued with rehabilitation and reconstruction ," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after campaigning for the Democrat Party in Medan, North Sumatra, over the weekend.
The Gintung dam collapse occurred only two weeks before a legislative election is to be held on April 9, 2009. Both the president and the vice president have visited the victims and pledged reconstruction.
However the funds for the reconstruction of residents? damaged houses will be disbursed after field checks and verifications have been made.
"At the current stage, we are still mobilizing heavy equipment to help find dead victims not yet discovered," Coordinating Minister for People'ss Welfare Aburizal Bakrie said.
Rescue workers are now doing their best to find the the rest of victims and reconstruct the damaged dam. "We are now basically ready for the reconstruction because the fund is is already made available," Bakrie said.***3*** (T.A014/H-NG/A/E002)
(T.A014/A/A014/A/E002) 29-03-2009 22:38:42
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