Nias Online

Friday, April 08, 2005 Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Gunung Sitoli

Yeniria Telemanua, 12, and her brother Natalius, 9, started off on the two-hour, 10-kilometer journey from the hilly area where their parents grow water spinach and cassava leaves to Beringin market in Gunung Sitoli.

The elementary school students have not been in school since the 8.7-magnitude earthquake late last month forced the administration to temporarily close all schools in Muawe village, Gunung Sitoli district.

The scrawny pair are among hundreds of children living on higher ground, who must work to help their parents due to the disaster.

They wake up at 7 a.m., not to go to school but to transport vegetables from their small farms to Gunung Sitoli's markets.

The quake destroyed their home, forcing them to live in temporary shelters.

"No relief aid has arrived in our village," Yeniria said. "And our parents, who grow tropical plants to obtain latex, have run out of money again."

"Before the quake we used to help our parents sell vegetables after school. But usually we only helped our mother carry her load, and we didn't walk but went by bus," Yeniria said.

Now, each child must make the long journey to the market carrying six bunches of green vegetables, which they sell for Rp 500 each.

When they were halfway through their journey, a small stall bought six bunches of water spinach from Natalius. However, because Yeniria's supply had not been sold yet, the pair had to carry on walking.

If they sell all their vegetables, the children can buy half a kilogram of rice from the market.

"The rice is Rp 12,000 per kilogram. We hope we can bring half a kilogram home for our family today," Yeniria said.

Another child, Herman Lase, 13, was seen hawking fish at shelters in Gunung Sitoli.

"My father used to sell fish to market vendors. But now only a few people come to the market, so he told me to sell it in town," the student from Saewe village said.

The three children's schools survived the earthquake but classes are yet to resume.

"We probably won't go back to school if our father and mother aren't able to tap latex. We don't have money for school," Yeniria said.

Nias Elementary Education Agency head O'ozatulo Ndraha said that 50 percent of school children had not been able to attend school due to the quake.

"We plan to erect tents where we could hold classes. While school won't fully resume, we can at least encourage the children so they retain their spirit to learn," he said.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005 The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A U.S. navy hospital ship arrived off the coast of Nias island on Tuesday, joining a big international relief effort to provide medical help and food aid for hundreds of thousands of people affected by the March 28 earthquake.

Joining the USNS Niagara Falls, which dropped anchor on Monday off Nias, the 1,000-bed USNS Mercy will provide aid both aboard and ashore with a range of medical specialties, including trauma, surgical support, orthopedics, ob-gyn, pediatrics, dental treatment and laboratory facilities.

All of those services, however, will not be immediately available, as the crew awaits the arrival of doctors and nurses from the United States, expected later this week.

"The ship will initially have one operating room, which can be used up to 12 hours per day as well as two intensive care units (ICU). Once it picked up more staff on Sibolga, it would have about 175 extra medical personnel, five ICU beds, 45 regular beds and three operating rooms. X-ray suites, laboratories and CAT-scan equipment would also be operational when the extra crew arrives," Captain Rick Morrison, deputy surgeon for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, told AFP on Tuesday.

Medical help also came from the Russian mobile hospital, which has been in Nias since Friday, with 33 rescuers, doctors and nurses along with two specially trained search dogs and medical equipment.

The medical team has provided assistance for around 48 patients, mostly with broken bones.

"We also provide one helicopter, as well as an airplane placed at Polonia airport in Medan," head of the Russian team Vladimir Boreiko said during a press conference on Tuesday.

A Hungarian rescue team has also arrived, working together with rescuers from Australia, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, delivered some 500 baskets of food as well as three four-wheel drive ambulances and six motorbikes handed to the Indonesian Red Cross. Seventeen more ambulances were reportedly on the way.

However, some reports said that foreign rescue teams were preparing to leave after spending a week sifting through the debris of thousands of collapsed buildings.

Boreiko said the Russian team would be in Nias for two weeks unless the Indonesian government asked them to continue the mission.

An estimated 1,300 people were believed to have been killed during last week's quake, most of those on Nias, but fatalities also have been reported on neighboring Simeulue island and nearby Singkil regency in Aceh.

Gunung Sitoli town, the capital of Nias, was worst affected, with at least 600 bodies recovered according to police reports, in addition there were more than 3,000 people injured and some 7,000 buildings, including hospitals, that were destroyed.

Relief groups have taken around 430 seriously injured people to hospitals on mainland Sumatra. A city health official in Medan told AFP that around 300 Nias residents were in intensive care units in 10 hospitals in Medan.

Meanwhile, UNICEF said some 15,000 families were homeless in Nias, with half of them living in houses of relatives and friends and about 7,500 others were without shelter.

Some people were unable to get home after being treated for their injuries, such as Beil Mefu Wao, 17, who was taken by helicopter on Friday to a hospital with injuries to his head and limbs.

However, after being released from the hospital, he had no way to return home to Sorake village, some 140 kilometers southeast of Gunung Sitoli.

"I do not know how I can get home," said Wao in tears, sitting near the hospital. "I want to go home, I have been declared healthy, but I do not know how I can get home.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

JAKARTA: Around 30 percent of inmates from Gunung Sitoli Penitentiary in Nias, who escaped during last week's massive earthquake, have reported to local police stations, according to a senior officer at National Police Headquarters.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said on Monday that around 53 of 178 inmates on the loose had turned themselves in to police.

During the 8.7-magnitude earthquake, the inmates fled from the prison as it was ripped apart.

"Since the building was damaged by the quake, they cannot return to the prison, but they still have to report daily to police stations," Zainuri said.

He said the police would pursue the remaining inmates and would add jail time to the sentences of those who were uncooperative. — JP

Tuesday, April 05, 2005 Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Gunung Sitoli

For two days, Fajarman Harefa has been crying out in pain because his left leg is broken. He was injured after his house on Nias island collapsed when the 8.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the island.

Only when his brother, Darma Harefa, treated the wound with antiseptic and wrapped it in simple cloth, Fajarman felt some relief.

Darma said he had to treat his brother although he had no medical or first aid experience.

"I'm confused, I don't know what to do to treat my brother's leg. He is in pain and I feel sad seeing him like that," 20-year-old Darma, a resident of Namohalu Esiwa district in Nias regency, told The Jakarta Post recently.

After his brother cleaned his wound, Fajarman was then taken by volunteers to a medical post in a school near Pelita Gunung Sitoli field.

At the post he was left untreated, prompting some volunteers to suggest that he be evacuated to Medan for medical treatment.

Fajarman said he was disappointed that he did not receive immediate medical attention.

"I was not given medical treatment at the post for hours, now I am told that I will be taken to Medan for treatment," said Fajarman before being taken to Medan on board a Singapore government Chinook helicopter.

Another quake victim, Adimani Halawa, also had to endured pain in her left leg, which was completely torn apart when the restaurant where she worked in was flattened in the quake.

"At the time of the disaster, I tried to run out of the restaurant. But the lights went out so I couldn't find the way out. Suddenly, the restaurant building collapsed and I was hit on my left leg. I fainted and woke up in the morning," the 25-year-old woman recalled.

The woman then tried to find cloth to cover her wound and then walked to the street, hoping to get help. But a day after the quake, there was no one to help her.

"Everyone was busy looking for their relatives under the collapsed buildings. For a whole day I tried to survive, and I lost lots of blood," she said.

She finally reached the medical post on the second day. There, what remained of her leg was wrapped in a bandage.

"Until now, I don't know the fate of my family," Adimani, whose family lives in Helaombo village in Gomo district, Nias regency, told the Post on Friday.

A volunteer at the medical post near Pelita field said on Friday that medical supplies at her post were not enough to treat quake victims. Due to the shortage of medical supplies and equipment some of the victims had to be evacuated out of the island to Medan or Sibolga, in North Sumatra.

Health minister Siti Fadilah said during her visit to Gunung Sitoli that her office had sent 27 doctors from Jakarta, including surgeons.

The ministry, she added, would also immediately send medical supplies to treat quake victims in Nias.

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

JAKARTA: To assist relief work on earthquake-devastated Nias island, Merpati Nusantara Airlines has added two additional flights each day between Medan and Gunung Sitoli and Sibolga.

The extra flights will be effective until April 9, using locally produced CN-235 aircraft.

"We are flying more frequently to the disaster-stricken area to transport logistics, relief workers and relatives of quake victims," Merpati corporate secretary Jaka Pujiyono said in a press release.

He added that fares for flights to Nias would not be increased.

The March 28 earthquake caused Merpati to suspend services to Nias for four days. — JP

Saturday, April 02, 2005 Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Nias

It has been four days since earthquake refugee Nujila Zendato and her five children have eaten a proper meal, because food has not been handed out to her and other displaced people.

That is what prompted her to storm on Friday the disaster control center in Gunung Sitoli here and scream for food.

"We want rice! We haven't eaten for four days, we're all hungry!" screamed the mother to Nias administration secretary FGM Zebua.

Her demand was to no avail, though, as Zebua could not be sure when the food relief would be delivered to the refugees.

"Be patient, ma'am.. the food is on the way here from Sibolga (North Sumatra). We'll give it to all of the refugees," Zebua said.

He said the rice supply here before the earthquake was only around 50 tons, and that had already been distributed to several districts. They are now waiting, Zebua said, for the relief distributed by the Ministry of Social Services, which was still apparently held up in Sibolga regency.

Hearing that information only angered Nujila further because, as she claims, very few, if any refugees in Nias have been given rice.

"There's no way that 50 tons were distributed. Many refugees are still hungry. We've been surviving on bananas only," said Nujila, who works as a farmer in Lalai village, Hiliduo district.

Along with her husband and their five children, she moved to the mountainous area above Gunung Sitoli, after Monday's earthquake destroyed their house. All of her family members survived the temblor.

Data from the disaster control center shows that there are 20,000 refugees out of a total of over 422,000 in Nias regency. That does not, however, include the refugees in South Nias regency, which has population of around 300,000 people.

The refugees are living in terrible conditions, and most complain of weakness and fainting spells due to a lack of rice. Some have scoured around destroyed houses to find instant noodles and other items.

Ridwan Koto, who is staying at a shelter for the West Sumatran ethnic group at Gunung Sitoli elementary school with about 100 displaced people, says he feels fortunate if he can eat instant noodles and share with other refugees.

"My house was not badly destroyed, so there was some food left. Anything edible, we eat together. We'd die of starvation if we had to rely on the government to distribute food," said Ridwan, who lost two siblings in the earthquake.

Another West Sumatran refugee Hasmaini Sikupang, 41, said he was sick, tired and embarrassed to look for handouts everywhere, but even when he did, he could find nothing.

"It's either finished or has not arrived yet. I'm so confused. We hope the government gives us some food soon," said Hasmaini, who has been teaching at SMP 1 junior high school for 16 years.

Aside from rice, he said the refugees were hoping for clean water facilities. Water has become scarce, to the point that most people have to walk over two kilometers up a hill in order to bathe.

Meanwhile, Minister of Social Services Bachtiar Chamsyah said in his visit here that the trouble with the aid distribution was related to transportation problems as roads and the runway at the local airport had been badly damaged.

"There are around 365 tons of rice on the way to Nias and South Nias. This stock should be sufficient for the refugees for the next few months," Bachtiar said.

Saturday, April 02, 2005 The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

South Korea — which actively participated in relief operations in tsunami-hit Aceh — sent its condolences to earthquake victims on Nias and Sumeulue islands and dispatched a medical team, the South Korean Embassy in Jakarta announced on Friday.

The 8.7-magnitude quake struck the islands late Monday and claimed hundreds of lives.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and foreign minister Ban Ki-moon sent on Tuesday their condolences to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda respectively.

"On behalf of the people and the government of the Republic of Korea, I would like to offer my deepest sympathy and condolences to you and to the victims and their families," Roh said in his message, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post by the Korean Embassy.

"On behalf of the Korean people and on my behalf, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to you and to the victims of the disaster," Ban said in his message.

The embassy's press and culture attach‚, Kim Sang-sool, told the Post that the Korean Food for the Hungry International (KFHI) dispatched on Thursday a 11-member medical team from Korea to Nias.

A Korean non-governmental organization, Good Neighbors, has already sent a five-member team to the quake-hit area.

Kim also said his government and the Indonesian government were discussing relief funds and materials to be sent to Nias.

Friday, April 01, 2005The herculean task of reconstructing Aceh had not even begun when another catastrophe struck again on Monday in the same area of northern Sumatra.

More than 200,000 Indonesians perished in the Dec. 26 tsunami and it is estimated that at least 1,000 more died this week as local and foreign volunteers search for survivors on Nias Island. About half a million people lost their homes in Aceh and thousands out of a population of 400,000 in Nias are now homeless.

The generosity of neighboring countries is very touching with many people flocking to Nias to help just three months after the Dec. 26 disaster. Some of those good people were on their way out of Aceh or nearing the completion of their humanitarian work in devastated Aceh, when they found themselves badly needed again in nearby Nias. Notable among them is Malaysia, and despite its ongoing dispute with Indonesia over two oil blocks off Borneo island, the Malaysians are sending hundreds of volunteers and medical personnel at this very moment.

Although it could be considered a lesser disaster relative to the apocalyptic tsunami, the Nias earthquake will nevertheless have an affect on the recently issued blueprint for reconstructing Aceh. Although the blueprint did include Nias, which was affected somewhat by the first catastrophe, the government promptly announced its decision to review its blueprint on reconstructing Aceh to also include the latest devastation on Nias.

It is not clear at the moment whether the time frame in the blueprint — rehabilitation work from April 2005 to April 2006 and reconstruction work up to 2009 — will also be changed. The same question can be posed for the total cost of reconstruction, which exceeds Rp 40 trillion (US$4.2 billion), mainly funded by international donations.

While we commend the blueprint, which is now being disseminated around Aceh to allow public input, the reconstruction of Aceh still appears to be problematic. There were problems prior to these two disasters, occurring the day after Christmas and the day after Easter, respectively. The government has been focused on trying to deal with a dilemma on reconstructing Aceh. This is not to ignore the need to look beyond physical reconstruction or the need to heal the massive psychological wounds suffered by the Acehnese.

One of the key questions concerning the reconstruction of Aceh will be, whether or not the government should allow the reconstruction work to carried out by foreigners as demanded by the Acehnese, or take on the task wholly on its own?

Apart from their inherent distrust of the government, the Acehnese are well aware that Indonesia is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It would be unfair to the Acehnese, however, to say that other provinces do not harbor the same distrust toward Jakarta; the sentiment seems to be quite similar throughout the nation. The difference is, with its separatist history, the Acehnese can afford to say so more openly where other provinces cannot. Other provinces seem to have less alternatives when it comes to development in their respective provinces directed from Jakarta.

Without belittling any effort forged by the government in reconstructing Aceh — some agencies like the social affairs ministry are taking care of thousands of orphaned Acehnese children — the government would do well to accommodate the aspirations of the people of Aceh.

There are two key reasons why this should be so. One, Aceh is not a typical Indonesian province. It is a special case. Its deep distrust toward the central government is not without justification. A foremost and staunch supporter of a free Indonesia in 1945, Aceh has since been disappointed by Jakarta too many times to count.

This is partly because of a flurry of broken promises by the government since day one of the nation's independence. Two, there is still an armed conflict going on between Aceh separatists and government troops. Aceh is one of two provinces in the country with a significant separatist problem.

This does not mean that the government should stand back and let the foreigners do their work together with the Acehnese. It is not a viable option as the Acehnese are likely to be less than equipped to do the massive reconstruction work. On the other hand, the foreigners need a capable partner in the field. A middle way has to be found out where all parties, including the Acehnese, the foreigners and the government, have a stake in the work. The government may well do the planning while the Acehnese could be given access to monitor the use of the funding.

Friday, April 01, 2005 Ridwan M. Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

U.S. Embassy in Jakarta expressed its deep concern over the latest earthquake tragedy, and stated that the U.S. government was committed to supporting the recovery and relief efforts in Nias and Simeulue, two islands greatly affected by Monday's earthquake.

"The United States has good ties with Indonesia… We are still coordinating with the Indonesian government on what kind of relief we can deliver immediately to the affected areas.

"We have provided US$100,000 in preliminary emergency aid to help children and for other purposes in the two islands. We have been coordinating with two international non governmental organizations and sent a five-member medical team to help injured survivors," U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Lynn B. Pascoe said.

He added that the U.S. government would likely provide heavy equipment such as helicopters, communications, logistical support and resources if the Indonesian government needed them to conduct the relief and recovery operations.

Pascoe confirmed that USNS Mercy left East Timor on Wednesday bound for Nias if it was needed to provide medical aid to injured survivors in the area.

Over the last three months since the tragic tsunami, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other U.S. government agencies had been working closely with the Indonesian government to provide relief and other assistance to disaster victims in Aceh.

The Navy hospital ship conducted a wide range of medical and dental assistance programs ashore and afloat. To date, USAID has provided more than $52.1 million in emergency food assistance, relief supplies, shelter, water and sanitation, health and other support for affected communities in northern Sumatra.

The U.S. had deployed 16,000 military personnel, 26 ships, 58 helicopters and 43 fixed wing aircraft in that relief and recovery effort.

Meanwhile, the AFP reported from Washington that the U.S. had dispatched naval and medical ships in a bid to help stricken victims of the latest killer earthquake in Indonesia.

"Today, the U.S. naval ships and the medical ships, Niagara Falls and Mercy, are proceeding to the region, should their assistance be necessary," U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters.

The Australian and Singapore militaries are helping Indonesia with relief and recovery efforts while the United States and Japan had offered military assistance and awaiting the green light from Jakarta.

Just before the latest disaster, Indonesia had urged all foreign militaries that had been providing aid to victims of the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia's Aceh province to leave.

Friday, April 01, 2005 The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Crucial aid was headed toward Nias island on Thursday, but severely damaged roads and ports were slowing down efforts to get help to thousands of people affected by Monday's earthquake.

Relief agencies are forced to use helicopters to ferry food, medical supplies and tents to the island, because the runway at the island's only airport was badly damaged in the quake, leaving it unable to serve large aircraft. Most of the roads on Nias are also impassable.

"I have received 100 tents for the residents of Nias, most of whom do not have roofs above their heads. But so far I have only been able to transport a few to Nias," Second Lt. J. Hutauruk, the head of logistics at the Air Force base in Medan, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"One tent weighs 65 kilograms, while a helicopter from the Singapore military can only carry a ton. We also have to prioritize the transportation of medicine, doctors and paramedics. So we can only load two or three tents per flight," he said.

The base has received food aid, potable water and power generators from various donors. However, most of the bottled water, water purifying plants and generators are sitting on the base waiting to be transported to the island.

The United Nations World Food Program estimated 200,000 Nias residents will require food aid for about two months. According to government data, there are more than 422,000 residents on the island.

"Please, sir, help us, we are starving," said a man in the Nias capital of Gunung Sitoli, as dozens of people looted a government store while the police looked on.

The grim search for survivors trapped beneath the rubble continued on Thursday, but badly needed heavy equipment failed to get ashore due to damaged ports.

Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said there were four large excavators aboard naval ships, but they were still trying to get the equipment ashore.

Officials have said the death toll from Monday's earthquake could be as high as 2,000. The United Nations said on Thursday it had recovered some 624 bodies, including 600 on Nias island and the remainder on the neighboring islands of Simeulue and Banyak.

"We do anticipate that figure is still going to go up," UN Development Program spokeswoman Imogen Wall said.

French and Norwegian rescuers pulled a boy and young woman alive from two separate buildings overnight, both relatively unscathed despite spending more than 50 hours trapped in the wreckage.

"They suffered from bruises and cuts all over their bodies, but other than that they were in relatively good condition," said Florent Dalmon of Pompiers Sans Frontieres, or Firefighters Without Borders.

Dalmon said his team used sledgehammers and bolt cutters to free the 19-year-old woman, while Olaf Lingiaerae of the Norwegian Support Team said the boy, 15, was hauled from the third floor of a collapsed five-story building.

Aftershocks continued to cause alarm among islanders and relief workers, with around 700 aftershocks having been recorded since Monday's major quake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale.

Thousands of Nias residents are still taking refuge in the mountains because of fears of a tsunami, while others are sleeping in makeshift shelters.

Hundreds of injured people are being treated at a makeshift hospital on a football field in the center of Gunung Sitoli, and aid workers on the island say more help is needed.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Hundreds of islanders in North Sumatra and Aceh who escaped the terrible waves of three months ago were killed early Tuesday in a strong earthquake.

Residents started to search through smoldering rubble for survivors on Nias island on Tuesday and relatives wept over the bodies of the dead after a huge undersea earthquake struck the region, triggering tsunami warnings and causing massive panic around the Indian Ocean rim.

Estimates of the number dead ranged from 330 to 2,000, apart from some 100 in Simeulue island in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

The epicenter of Monday's quake, which measured 8.7 on the Richter scale, was just 320 kilometers away from that of the Dec. 26 quake, which sent giant waves crashing into 12 nations, killing over 273,000 people, mostly in Aceh. Nias was also affected by the tsunami but only some 130 were reported dead.

Unlike residents on Sumatra's mainland, locals on Nias and Simeulue said they had escaped to higher ground following the earthquake after seeing the ocean recede, which they knew meant a tsunami was on the way. They cited their elders' stories of similar disasters, which, among other things, had led to the stranding of whales.

Budi Atmaji Adiputro, a spokesman for the Coordinating Agency for National Disaster Relief, said rescuers found 330 bodies in the rubble on Tuesday. The toll was expected to rise as more bodies were believed to be trapped in collapsed buildings, he said.

From the air, it appeared that about 30 percent of the buildings in Gunung Sitoli, the island's biggest city, were destroyed, and there was significant damage to the island's second biggest town, Teluk Dalam, Associated Press reported.

But Antara said that some 80 percent of the buildings in Gunung Sitoli had been destroyed. It added that many bridges were down, while telecommunications and electricity were still out. Most people in Gunung Sitoli had fled to the hills amid fears of a tsunami.

The head of the health office in Aceh province, Mulya Hasjmy, told Agence France Presse that a disaster task force on Simeulue island had counted 100 dead.

But Vice President Yusuf Kalla told the British Broadcasting Corporation that reports from Nias indicated that between 1,000 and 2,000 people had died. Nias island, which is popular with surfers, has a population of some 700,000 people.

The undersea quake struck about 200 kilometers off the west coast of Sumatra and prompted Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, among other nations, to issue imminent tsunami warnings.