Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia

West Sumatra May Get Head Start on Quake Rebuilding

The rehabilitation and reconstruction process for earthquake-ravaged West Sumatra may begin ahead of schedule, possibly before the end of the month, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said on Wednesday.

“The emergency response period, originally scheduled to last a month, could end sooner,” Priyadi Kardono told the Jakarta Globe, adding that if this happened West Sumatra could get a head start on rebuilding.

The news comes as the official death toll from the Sept. 30 earthquake rose to 1,115, with one person listed as missing. Some 1,214 people suffered serious injuries. In total, 135,299 homes were listed as seriously damaged, while 143,897 received minor damage.

“We have detailed and validated data on the damage caused and the results will be relayed to the president,” Priyadi said. West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi and national disaster agency chief Syamsul Maarif were scheduled to report directly to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono today, he added.

Priyadi said local governments had not decided on how much aid would be allocated to rebuild each collapsed home. However, he said the amount may not be the same as provided for rebuilding efforts in other disaster cases such as the West Java earthquake.

The West Sumatra’s Disaster Management Agency also stated that foreign relief groups had been involved in the rescue and relief efforts since the powerful earthquake struck the province on Sept. 30, and that some of them have now extended their stay to provide health assistance for the earthquake victims.

The head of the agency, Ade Edward, said that a medical unit from Mexico arrived on Tuesday and that relief workers from Russia, Japan, Denmark and Malaysia have extended their stays.

“But please don’t translate the extended [international aid] into something negative, for example, that conditions are getting worse or something. No, that’s wrong. We are just moving from the rescue to the treatment phase, and we need more medical staff for the survivors,” he said.

Ade said there were more than 3,000 people with injuries that still needed treatment.

“We need more medical workers,” he said. “Our medical personnel have been working around the clock for more than two weeks and are close to exhaustion.”

Ade said that survivors would be at greater risk of contracting upper respiratory tract infections and diarrhea over the next two weeks, which would put a further strain on medical staff.

He said that United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes on Wednesday visited West Sumatra to see the devastation firsthand.

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