The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) is focusing on supplying clean water to 112 evacuation posts and villages in Cianjur district, West Java, to fulfill the needs of earthquake-affected residents.
PMI’s Cianjur emergency disaster response field coordinator, Fajar Aciana, said that clean water distribution has become PMI’s focus. Therefore, PMI has increased the distribution volume for evacuation posts from 17 water trucks to 51 water trucks.
“We hope that the distribution lines will not be hampered by queues of donation vehicles wishing to deliver aid. During the emergency response, it took a long time for the tankers to reach the distribution points, which were only dozens of kilometers away,” Aciana said here on Friday.
As of Friday, the 12th day since the disaster struck, PMI has distributed 800 thousand liters of clean water with full support from the regional tap water company (PDAM).
Besides clean water, PMI is also focusing on providing health services to refugees who are starting to report illnesses. As per information shared by three PMI health posts, an average of 80 people have complained of cough, runny nose, and respiratory problems so far.
Meanwhile, the director of Cianjur PDAM, Budi Karyawan, said that in an effort to supply clean water to evacuation posts, his party has filled around 45 water trucks owned by PMI and the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR). Water trucks have also delivered water to residents in Cianjur, not just refugees at evacuation posts.
“We are still trying to repair the damaged main pipelines to deliver clean water to residents who live in their respective homes as well. For now, we are greatly assisted by dozens of water tanks that also serve water requests from residents who did not evacuate, including from PMI,” Karyawan added.
On November 21, 2022, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake rattled Cianjur district, West Java, at 1:21 p.m. local time. It was centered 10 kilometers (km) southwest of the district at a depth of 10 km. It did not have the potential to trigger a tsunami.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of December 1, the number of people who have died in the quake has reached 329, while the number of injured has been recorded at 595. Of the injured, 59 people have been hospitalized with severe injuries. The disaster has also forced 114,683 people to flee their homes.
Source: Antara News