Indonesia quake survivors begin to rebuild

Indonesian earthquake survivors salvaged bricks and planks from the remains of their flattened homes today as they began the arduous process of rebuilding, but international relief agencies warned that the emergency phase was far from over.

A nearby volcano added to people’s worries, shooting out large plumes of ash and sending lava avalanching down its slopes.

Nearly a week after the earthquake that killed more than 6,200 people and left a half-million others homeless, aid workers had yet to reach some remote areas, and delivery of food, medicine and tents was sporadic in others.

About 135,000 houses were completely destroyed by the 6.3-magnitude quake, and most survivors were sleeping under plastic sheets or in thin tents.

In Telan, a village in hardest-hit Bantul district, three families were crowded under one tarpaulin.

“We are poor people. If we don’t work hard, how can we survive?” asked one resident, Soliman, as he and his wife salvaged bricks, tiles and wooden posts so they could start to rebuild.

Their house – like nearly every other in the tiny rice farming community – was turned into rubble by the quake.

Though trucks loaded with humanitarian relief clogged recently repaired roads in some areas, villagers a few miles from aid distribution centres said they had received little or no help.

Some have been eating rice scrounged from the rubble as well as tapioca, papayas and other fruit that grows in the rich volcanic soil of Java island, while others blocked traffic to beg for money from passing motorists.

The United Nations said that while conditions were improving, the “emergency phase will continue for another one to two weeks,” and help will still be needed for months to come.

With an estimated 650,000 people displaced “the obvious concern for the humanitarian community is to care for those who have gone through and lived through this disaster, in particular the injured and the homeless”, he said.

The situation appeared better today in Bantul’s main hospital, which has treated thousands of patients since the quake, with volunteers cleaning up piles of rubbish. US Marines and Singaporean medical teams joined scores of Indonesian doctors from other areas of the country.

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency that rather than more doctors and nurses, foreign governments and aid organisations should provide money to help rebuild homes.

Mount Merapi, a volcano 12 miles north of the disaster zone, has spit out searing clouds of smoke and lava for weeks and scientists warned immediately after the May 27 quake that the temblor could trigger a larger eruption.

The mountain spewed ash and lava at least 35 times today, and officials said it remained a threat – though not “as result of this earthquake”, said Puji Pujiono, leader of the UN disaster assessment and co-ordination team at the site.

At least 6,234 people were killed by the quake, according to the Social Affairs Ministry, and some 30,000 others were injured.