Around 220,000 people remain in temporary shelters following the recent heavy flooding across the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
The flood reached a height of 4m in some areas, trapping people in their homes and cutting off access to electricity and water supplies. Although the waters are now subsiding, communication and transport links are still badly affected and evacuation continues in the worst-hit districts.
People displaced by the floods are sheltering in mosques, schools and government buildings, but insanitary conditions mean that many are beginning to suffer from skin diseases, dysentery, diarrhoea, respiratory problems and fever. Communal kitchens have been set up but there is a lack of food and drinking water in some areas.
Plan has sent a rapid needs assessment team to five affected areas: Petamburan, Karet Tengsin, Kebon Melati, Kebon Pala and Tanabang. The team aims to ensure that the particular needs of children in these areas are met during the relief operation.
The Indonesia country office has initially approved US$50,000 for emergency sanitary hygiene kits and baby food. The initiative will benefit around 2,900 people, mostly children.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
