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Risk of disease looms:
Rains lash Indonesia quake zone
INDONESIA: Heavy rain across Indonesia’s earthquake disaster zone
hampered relief efforts on Monday as health officials sought to contain
the risk of disease caused by the thousands of buried bodies.
Heavy showers soaked the devastated city of Padang and the
surrounding rural areas, adding to the misery of those left homeless by
the 7.6-magnitude quake that struck last Wednesday.
Foreign aid and emergency teams continue to pour into Padang, but
there is now little hope of pulling surivors from the wreckage of homes,
hotels and offices.
“Our focus right now is to find the dead bodies,” Disaster Management
Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono told AFP.
The United Nations has said that at least 1,100 people were killed in
the disaster, but estimates of the final toll range up to 5,000.
Police helicopter pilots told AFP that bad weather was jeopardising
their missions to ferry supplies and medical equipment to remote
villages that have been smashed by landslides.
Health officials said they were now racing against time to prevent
outbreaks of disease caused by decomposing bodies and a lack of clean
water.
“There is a concern that dirty water supplies can spread skin disease
and other kinds of diseases. Flies on dead bodies can also spread
bacteria to people,” Health Ministry crisis centre head Rustam Pakaya
said.
“In anticipation of an outbreak, we sprayed disinfectant on
residential areas yesterday.”
The government said it had set aside 6.0 trillion rupiah (624 million
dollars) for reconstruction in Padang, the worst-hit city where most
buildings have been damaged or completely destroyed, including hospitals
and schools.
“The total is not less than 6.0 trillion rupiah earmarked for the
quake, beside the 100 billion rupiah for the emergency fund,” Welfare
Minister Aburizal Bakrie was quoted as saying by Koran Tempo newspaper
online.
There were also signs Monday that the city, home to one million
people on the west coast of Sumatra island, was taking its first
tentative steps on the long path to recovery.
Excavators still raked over collapsed buildings and many of the
injured were being treated in tents, but at some of the city’s schools,
teachers said they were trying to resume classes.
Padang, Monday, AFP |
