INDONESIA: Capital Jakarta on health alert over floods as disease spreads to thousands

Flood waters receded in parts of Indonesia's capital on Tuesday (February 6, 2007), but huge areas remained submerged heightening the risk of disease. The number of displaced people edged down to 290,000 from 340,000 as the floodwaters subsided, officials at the National Coordinator Agency for disaster management said. A Jakarta police spokesperson said the floods have killed at least 36 people. Most had either drowned or been electrocuted. Water in parts of the tropical city of nine million people has been up to four metres (13 feet) deep causing blackouts, cutting telephone lines and blocking key roads. Indonesia regularly suffers from floods during the rainy season but the devastation of recent days has been the worst in five years. Meteorology officials have warned the city could suffer heavy rains until the end of the month. Officials at the Jakarta health department said 170 medical posts had treated 53,108 patients over two days for mostly minor ailments. But Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari told reporters that authorities were on alert for outbreaks of more serious cases of diarrhea or diseases such as typhoid, cholera and measles. Health volunteer doctor Erick Kurniawan said they were especially worried about infants and children. "The big number of health cases we have found are diarrhoea and cholera. The adults have better immunity," Kurniawan said. The Indonesian military said it had deployed more than 4,000 soldiers and provided dozens of dinghies and trucks to help flood-hit residents. Bayu Krisnamurthi, head of a body tackling bird flu, said the flooding could spread infected poultry and complicate measures against the virus that has killed 63 people in the country. After heavy overnight rain, sunshine bathed the capital on Monday (February 5), although an official at the country's meteorology agency said the downpours would subside. Businesses were also trying to assess the economic impact of the floods, which have caused blackouts, cut telecommunications and made many key roads impassable. Floods in the city can often spring up in one area and recede in another as water from rain in upstream areas such as Bogor feeds into rivers criss-crossing the city. Tap water was not available in several parts of the capital where wealthy residents hired bowsers for deliveries. Patients at Military hospital in central Jakarta were evacuated overnight as wards flooded and most of the complex were flooded after the Krukut river near the hospital burst its bank. "When the water entered this hospital on Saturday we evacuated 125 patients to the second floor. The next day the power was down and we are facing water crisis. We were forced to evacuate patients to other hospitals," said Dr. Sakti Utama, head of the hospital. Businesses were also trying to assess the economic impact of the floods, which have caused power blackouts, cut telecommunications and made many key roads impassable. Top politicians have also being visiting flood victims, as officials traded blame and the media asked why few lessons seemed to have been learnt after equally bad floods five years ago.

ITN Source | February 6, 2007

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