INDONESIA: Indonesians pray at Jakarta mosque as flood threat remains; Netherlands donates money to help flood victims.

Worshippers attending Friday prayers at a Jakarta mosque prayed for relief from the floods which have devastated the Indonesian capital, and the Netherlands donates one million Euros (1.3 million U.S. dollars) to assist the flood victims. Fears of disease gripped Indonesia's flood-hit capital on Friday (February 9) with thousands of people living in cramped emergency shelters and some streets still inundated a week after the city's worst floods in five years. Indonesians in Marunda, north of Jakarta, crowded a local mosque to attend the first Friday prayers to be held since the floods that killed 57 people and displaced more than 250,000 hit the Indonesian capital. "I hope next year it won't happen again, not like today with evacuees staying upstairs," said Anis, who attended the Friday prayers. Displaced residents were taking refuge on the second floor of the mosque. "It's been eight days since people experienced the extraordinary happenings, and it's distressful. And the one who shoulders the responsibility is the Jakarta Governor," added Imam, another Jakartan who came to the mosque to pray. Relief agencies distributed food and medicine to the displaced people while authorities moved some of the people whose homes have been flooded into a sports stadiums. Netherlands Ambassador to Indonesia Nicholas Van Dam said his government donated boats and food supplies to help displaced people affected by floods. "We donate to the Indonesian government one million Euros (1.3 million U.S. dollars), which is about 11.7 billion rupiah, and half of it is destined for emergency aid like food, medicine, tents and so on, and the other half is meant for boats, for rubber boats, which are very important to rescue people to help people to reach them," the ambassador said. Authorities are on guard for any outbreaks of diarrhoea, cholera, skin diseases or leptospirosis as torrential rains overnight triggered fresh flooding in parts of the low-lying city of around 14 million people, a health official said. The disruption in power affected water supplies in parts of the city, forcing people to use rain water for bathing. A previous flood disaster in 2002 saw widespread looting, but National Police Chief General Sutanto no such reports have been made and that 14,000 police officers were dispatched to flood-hit areas, Antara news agency reported. Water has receded but houses are still covered by thick mud. Some residents were trying to cleaning up their homes.

ITN Source | February 9, 2007

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