Indonesian military steps up relief for flood-hit Sumatra; death toll above 860

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

By Ajeng Ulfiana

ACEH TAMIANG, Indonesia, Dec 5 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s military stepped up its relief efforts in three provinces on Sumatra island devastated by deadly floods and landslides, with many residents still stranded without access to government aid.

The death toll from last week’s cyclone rose to 867 people on Friday evening with 521 listed as missing, government data showed. The storm systems also killed about 200 people in southern Thailand and Malaysia.

The military has erected at least 10 portable “Bailey bridges” in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra provinces to help distribute food and aid supplies to isolated residents, Major General Freddy Ardianzah told reporters on Friday.  

“The construction of these bridges is crucial to distribute logistics. Some of the roads are still blocked so the aid is yet to reach those affected by the disaster.” 

Ardianzah said the military was also deploying mobile reverse osmosis systems, which make polluted water safe to drink, and would continue to make airdrops of food and medications to marooned inhabitants.

Bunga, 40, a mother of two in Aceh Tamiang, was struggling to get clean water and diapers for her five-month-old baby. The family had been trapped on the second floor of her house without any aid from the government for the past week.

“The government needs to be more agile in distributing medical aid, food, clean water … My child has not bathed for 10 days,” Bunga told Reuters.

Muhammad Asan, 60, had to witness his wife die of long-standing diabetes in the three-storey building where they took refuge from the floods because she had been unable to bring her medications when they fled their home before it was swept away.

“There was no medical treatment…No medicine,” he said, adding that his wife’s body was still in the building as there was nowhere accessible to bury her.

Local government officials on Sumatra have called on the national government in Jakarta to declare a national emergency to free up additional funds for rescue and relief efforts.

Earlier this week, President Prabowo Subianto said the situation was improving and current arrangements were sufficient, but his deputy took a different view after visiting affected areas on Thursday. 

“I apologise. You are not alone, the people of Sumatra are not alone,” Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka said in a statement after his visit, adding that the government would ensure those in evacuation centres received proper care.

(Reporting by Ajeng Dinar and Yudhistira in Aceh Tamiang, Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto in Jakarta; editing by John Mair and Mark Heinrich)