Padang Pariaman, Sumatra (Oct. 6, 2009) - As international relief operations intensify in the earthquake-shattered areas of West Sumatra, CARE is distributing aid into hard-hit areas reachable only by motorbike or on foot. CARE emergency workers say remote areas were hardest-hit by the devastating 7.6 quake Sept. 30, but have received little aid because of blocked roads.
"Up until now most of the humanitarian effort is focused on the city of Padang. But we are seeing the worst damage in the remote outlying areas in the district of Padang Pariaman," said Adjie Fachrurrazi, CARE Emergency Relief Coordinator. "In the rural areas, people are saying to us, 'don't count the number of houses destroyed. Count the number of houses left standing - it will be faster.'"
With roads often heavily damaged, many rural areas cannot be reached by car. CARE teams are using motorbikes to reach remote areas like the village of Pulo Air. That village, along with two others, was almost completely destroyed by a landslide caused by the earthquake.
"Tomorrow's distribution will be done by foot, passing emergency supplies from person to person in a human chain, because the roads are totally blocked," said Fachrurrazi. CARE is distributing emergency kits consisting of a hygiene kit, blankets, sarongs, jerry can for storing water and water purification solution to 260 families (1,300 people) in a village in the sub-district of Batang Gasan.
"Before we arrived, people had nothing. We saw the same thing after the 2007 quake, and in Yogyakarta in 2006. The remote areas are poorer, the houses are less able to withstand a quake, and people have fewer resources to recover," said Fachrurrazi.
CARE is focusing its response on the hardest-hit rural areas, and is coordinating closely with other aid agencies and the government to ensure all areas receive assistance and there is no duplication of efforts. A new shipment of emergency supplies arrived today, but the clock is ticking; more funding is needed to scale up the emergency response.
CARE is helping 5,000 people in the initial days of the response, but plans to reach up to 40,000 people as more supplies and funding come in. CARE responded to similar earthquakes in the same area in 2007, providing water purification supplies and emergency shelter for 65,000 people.
About CARE: CARE is one of the world's largest aid agencies, working in 70 countries to fight poverty and helping more than 55 million people every year. CARE has been in Indonesia since 1967, and operates a broad range of projects in disaster risk reduction, emergency response, environment and natural resource management, health, livelihoods and water and sanitation.
Members of CARE's emergency response team in West Sumatra are available for interview. For more information and to arrange interviews please contact:
Wiwik Widyastuti (Padang): +62 812 108 2491, wiwik_widyastuti@careind.or.id
Melanie Brooks (Geneva): +41 79 590 30 47, brooks@careinternational.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
An aerial view of houses damaged by an earthquake in Pariaman district, West Sumatra province October 6, 2009. Rescuers and aid workers were fanning out on Monday into the hills of ...
