Bekasi, West Java (Antara) - The Social Affairs Ministry has allocated Rp400 billion in funds to aid victims of natural disasters throughout Indonesia.
"Around 80 percent of the relief aid is in the form of physical equipment such as rubber boats and emergency tents, while 20 percent is logistic supplies such as food," Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri said here on Saturday when visiting flood victims in East Bekasi, West Java Province.
The aid is distributed through natural disaster response teams in every region, he said.
The minister presented relief aid worth Rp702 million and consisting of among other things 250 packages of family kits, 150 packages of kids ware, 250 packages of foodware, 500 packages of kitchen ware, 500 mattresses, and 1,000 packages of food and 500 packages of garments, to the Bekasi flood victims.
After distributing relief aid to the flood victims in Bekasi, the minister said floods hitting several provinces in Indonesia at present must be dealt with integratedly by each regional administration.
January and February are the peak months of the rainy season in Indonesia, which mostly results in flooding across several parts of the country.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNBP) reported that, currently, the floods have affected several areas in Sulawesi, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Java Island.
The North Sulawesi Province is the worst affected by the floods. Over the last two days, 16 people died, three went missing, and at least 40 thousand residents displaced as the aftermath of flooding.
Some areas of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital city, have also been flooded over the past week, claiming seven lives and displacing more than ten thousand people.
The causes of their death vary from illnesses, falls or drowning to electrocution. (*)
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Jawa Timur 2014
COPYRIGHT © ANTARA News Jawa Timur 2014