JakartaPost-Nov 23
Aid from the government continues to pour into Cianjur regency in West Java, with President Joko Widodo also traveling to the scene of Monday’s earthquake that left more than 200 people dead. Rescue workers are racing to find more than 100 people who are still listed as missing. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded on Tuesday afternoon that 268 people had died, but they have only identified 122 of the fatalities. Some 1,080 people were reported injured and 151 people remain missing. More than 58,300 people have been evacuated and at least 12,600 houses are heavily damaged, while 6,500 and 2,000 other houses suffered moderate and mild damage, respectively, authorities said. “My instruction is to prioritize rescuing victims who are still trapped under the rubble,” Jokowi said. He said each owner of a severely damaged house would get Rp 50 million (US$3,188) in cash aid, owners of houses with medium or mild damage will get Rp 25 million and Rp 10 million, respectively. The central government, via the BNPB, has handed the Cianjur administration Rp 500 million worth of food and other emergency supplies and Rp 1.5 billion in emergency funds (DSP) to help those affected by the quake. The BNPB has set up a centralized command post to help streamline aid distribution, data collection and to coordinate the search-and-rescue efforts over the coming days. The Cianjur administration declared on Tuesday a state of emergency for the next 30 days. Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, who arrived in Cianjur on Monday night, has deployed six excavators and six dump trucks to help reconnect severed sections along the Cianjur-Cipanas road. State electricity company PLN reported on Tuesday that power had been restored to 89 percent of customers following an outage after the earthquake. President Jokowi has also called attention to unstable buildings, saying that it is imperative for the heavily damaged houses to be reconstructed using earthquake-resistant building materials. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/11/23/aid-pours-into-cianjur-as-quake-death-toll-rises-to-over-200.html
