surfaid 17 Sep 2007No Comments 507 views Print Email

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SOUTH MENTAWAI VILLAGE REDUCED TO RUBBLE

Malakopa is a town no more. The village which sits on the west coast of the southern Mentawai island of Pagai has been totally destroyed, the entire population now crowded together in a makeshift camp on the hill.

Entering the deserted village one faces a scene of destruction. The village that once housed 300 families is in rubble, those homes still standing damaged beyond repair.

The only villagers in sight have come down from the hillside camp to sift through the rubble salvaging wood, iron roofing and any other items not destroyed.

“We are ready to work,” said an elderly man pushing a wheelbarrow down from the camp. “Even though we are now starting from zero.”

Surfaid International joined the Mentawai Islands Regent and Deputy Regent on an assessment to this isolated village following unconfirmed reports of large scale destruction. But nobody was prepared for the extent of the damage.

“What are we going to do?” asked a grandmother standing in front of the rubble that was just last week her home. “We are too old to start rebuilding our house.”

Villagers recounted stories of the two large earthquakes, which rocked the region last Wednesday and Thursday. After the first shake they quickly ran for higher ground fearing a tsunami. They returned the following morning to a large amount of damage only to be struck by another quake, which lasted one minute 40 seconds. This closer, more powerful earthquake finished off what was left of the village. The villagers themselves are amazed that nobody died in this disaster.

Close to 2,500 people are living on a spur above the town. They have limited food stocks and are still too afraid to venture out to the fields to check their traditional crops. They have salvaged clothes and whatever personal hygiene items they could find. There is a water source below the displacement camp, but a pressing need to separate drinking water from washing and bathing water. As yet there is no communal toilet.

Under a tin-roof shelter at the end of the camp, 3km up from the destroyed village, a young woman looks over her eight-day-old twin baby girls. It is sweltering under the hot tin and, at night, the young woman says it gets very cold.

Thankfully the family has salvaged a mosquito net for the fragile newborns to sleep under at night. But medical services are in short supply. The community clinic is gone, but the village midwife is on hand in the camp and has monitored the health of the two little earthquake survivors.

“We might call them Gempa 1 (Quake 1) and Gempa 2 (Quake 2),” the family joked.

A doctor from the local Mentawai Health Department traveled with the Regent’s party to Malakopa today. She checked the condition of women and children and distributed medicines including vitamins and antibiotics.

In one small shelter a mother said her three daughters, aged 18-months-old, three and eight, were all suffering from coughs and fever.

The Mentawai Island Regent distributed food aid items today from the first Padang shipment, and he also provided a financial donation to the village. But the rice, noodles and canned sardines were limited.

There is a need here for food and non-food items especially tents, tarpaulins and tools to help the community pull down what remains of their homes and start to rebuild.

The villagers fear more earthquakes and tsunamis and want to move the village to higher ground. They have named the hill behind their village “Gunung Kasih Cinta” (The Mountain That Protects).

Malakopa is the largest village in this southern region and is a sub-district centre. As SurfAid rapid assessment teams move south through this island chain the real picture of the devastation wrought by last week’s earthquakes is emerging.

11pm Monday 17 September 2007
SurfAid International Emergency Preparedness Manager, Jason Brown, reports that the team also visited a hamlet just north of there called Beleraksok, where 163 families are now spread across three displacement camps.

About 50 per cent of the village is completely destroyed, and it is believed the remaining 50 per cent is uninhabitable. Two churches and the primary school were destroyed.

They need tarpaulins, tents, basic health items and baby food.

Earlier 7.30am report Monday 17 September 2007:
Early data shows high percentage of destruction. Early data being compiled in south Mentawai is indicating close to 60 per cent of the region has been destroyed or damaged.

But much remains unknown as reports from a number of areas remain sketchy at best. Current data shows that of 1698 families, 536 have lost their homes or suffered severe damage, while another 405 families have suffered light damage to their houses. This includes masonry, wood and combination masonry/wood homes.

SurfAid International is today sending a boat containing emergency supplies, including building kits, to affected villages in the south. The kits include basic building tools and nails will assist communities to first dismantle what remains of their dangerous houses then start the onerous task of rebuilding. As many homes in the region are built of wood, communities will be able to salvage much of the materials. (The Budyadahri left Padang tonight and will arrive in Sikakap in the morning - Tuesday 18 September).

“We will work together, one-by-one, to rebuild our houses,” Pak Zulfan, from Silabu village, told SurfAid last week.

The statement is testament to the resilience of these island communities. But this resilience will be tested by displacement and poor weather, which increases the potential for disease.

Also on board are tarpaulins, mats and rope and SurfAid will distribute these shelter kits to families to help keep them dry.

While early figures show that 30 per cent of the region are without homes, almost 100 per cent of the villagers continue to live in camps on higher ground as aftershocks continue to tremble the ground. In many cases villagers return to their village through the day then it’s back to the safety of the hills to sleep.

The Mentawai Government is launching an emergency distribution today focusing on four drop points in the region. In a meeting between the Mentawai Regent, military and community last night it was explained that logistics were difficult because boats of various sizes were required to reach all villages.

Aid is currently extremely limited. Apart from 13 tons of rice, the aid delivered from Padang includes 3,000 cartons of noodles and just four cartons of cooking oil, 25 cartons of canned sardines, four cartons of soy sauce, 40 sarongs, 20 shirts, 20 blankets, four tents and 40 school uniforms. This for almost 13,000 people.

The military will use four boats and six smaller long boats in its first distribution operation.

By Jason Brown
(SurfAid International Emergency Preparedness Manager)