The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) is to help realize the reconstruction of 516 houses in Mentawai , West Sumatra, which were heavily damaged in the Oct 25 tsunami, the organization`s chief said.
PMI Chairman Jusuf Kalla said here on Thursday his organization would provide the 516 families with building materials and tools for reconstruction of their houses such as sand, hoes and saws.
"PMI will also give them cash money at a rate of Rp 5 million per family. I hope they can use the money to rebuild their houses and meet their daily needs," Kalla said.
Deputy Finance Minister Anny Ratnawati said disaster reserve funds still remained Rp930 billion.
"Unspent disaster reserve funds still amounted to Rp930 billion," the deputy minister said here on Thursday.
She said that disaster reserve funds were set at the revised 2010 state budget at Rp3.79 trillion.
Anny said that a total of Rp650 billion had been allocated for disaster handling in West Sumatra and West Java several months ago.
Of the allocated funds, Rp350 billion were for the handling of disaster in West Sumatra, Rp200 billion for West Java and Rp100 billion for on-call funds.
The government needs to make education about natural disasters part of the school curriculum, an official said on Friday. "Including knowledge about natural disasters in the school curriculum is one way to help reduce casualties when a disaster strikes," said Safri Baharuddin, chief of information at the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare.
He said that many Indonesians did not know what to do in the event of natural disasters, like earthquakes or tsunamis. This often adds to panic during such situations.
he death toll from a series of eruptions at an Indonesian volcano has risen to 206.
Mount Merapi began unleashing torrents of hot gas, rock and other debris more than two weeks ago after years of dormancy. The most significant blast came last Friday, the deadliest day at the mountain in decades.
The National Disaster Management Agency said Friday that the toll had gone up from 194 to 206 - after counting additional people who died from respiratory problems, heart attacks and other illnesses related to the eruptions.
Mount Merapi in Central Java spewed a big cloud of volcanic materials for more than an hour at 5.38pm on Friday.
From a CCTV camera installed in Deles village, Klaten, a high column of clouds were seen coming out of the mountain`s top followed by a quite big molten lava at around 6.45pm.
"We still declare Mount Merapi under highest alert status although the intensity of its seismic activity has dropped," head of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency, Surono, said here on Friday.
Three hundred and thirty survivors of Mount Merapi eruptions being sheltered at Maguwohardjo sports stadium here are suffering from mental stress, a psychologist said on Thursday.
"We have recorded that, until November 10, there were 330 refugees who were suffering from mental stress. Their number is likely to increase because we have not yet counted them all," Retno Kumolohadi, a psychologist, said.
Retno, coordinator of Maguwoharjo Refugee Center's psychology unit, said that as a result of the mental stress, lots of refugees could not sleep at night.
Searching for more possible Merapi victims
Two servicemen from the Army`s elite unit were on Thursday (Nov 11) searching for more possible Merapi victims in Gadingan village near Gendol river where Mt.Merapi`s mudflow was passing. It was predicted that some victims were still buried but they have not been evacuated yet because the area is difficult to reach and the volcanic materials are still in high temperature. (FOTO ANTARA/Akbar Nugroho Gumay/bp)Published Thursday, November 11, 2010 14:49 WIB
