Indonesia ramps up aid effort a week after quake

Wednesday, 7 October 2009

The Jakarta Globe

Relief agencies were racing against time Wednesday to get aid to remote Indonesian villages still cut off a week after a massive earthquake devastated parts of Sumatra.

The 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the western coast of the island last Wednesday, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving half a million homeless, according to United Nations' estimates.

The official death toll from the Indonesian government remained at 704, although the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it expects the final number to pass 3,000.

UN humanitarian response coordinator Rachel Lavy said there was no shortage of aid supplies, and more was on the way aboard US warships which were expected to arrive off Sumatra by Friday.

The biggest challenge was distribution, she said, especially in the coastal hinterland where hundreds of people were buried alive in landslides which obliterated entire villages and destroyed roads and communications.

"Agencies are still reporting pockets where they found people who say they haven't received any assistance," she said in the worst-hit city of Padang. Related article: Villages reduced to mass graves

"The first three months are often the most critical. We need to make sure that people have got shelter in that time, they need access to food and medical care... in that 90-days period.

There are no signs of disease outbreaks, despite shortages of drinking water and the hundreds of decaying bodies that remain buried beneath the rubble, Lavy said.

"We're not seeing any rise in the reported incidence of communicable diseases, and that's a very good thing," she said. The government estimates around 100,000 homes have been destroyed, meaning up to 500,000 people could be in need of temporary shelter, according to the UN and the Red Cross.