News Focus: W JAVA GOVT YET EXTENDED MORE AID TO LANDSLIDE VICTIMS By Bustanuddin

Jakarta, March 5 (ANTARA) - The West Java provincial administration has not yet provided more assistance to the landslide victims because the administration was still calculating the needs for the losses suffered by the victims.

The assistance for the victims will be arranged through a governor's regulation, said the West Java provincial deputy governor, Dede Jusuf in his visit to Sukabumi on Wednesday (March 3).
"We're striving to disburse the assistance as soon as possible," the deputy governor said.

The number of fatalities in last Tuesday`s rain-triggered landslide on a hilly tea plantation in Ciwidey, Bandung district, West Java, until Friday known to have reached 35 and 44 still gone missing.

According to West Java provincial disaster management agency (BPPD), the 44 missing people consisted of 12 men, 20 women and 12 children.

The bodies were identified as Isman (28), Iis (25), Vanesa (2), Ina (26), Yulis (22), Otih (55), Eti (40), Neni (26), Jajang (52), Cicih (50), Sahna (45), Ayi Oleh (45), Ibu Amin (45), Amin (45), Isman (3), Neneng (13), Enyi (50), Eulis Iwan (30), Oneng (50), Asny (3), Eka Amat (25), Kirana (4), Nendi (13), Dasep (4), Mak Enah (60), Adang Engit (44), Weni (26), Isti Binti Isman (3), Hadin Komarudin (44), Jeni bin Dahlan (24), Risma, (3), Ahmad Nuryadi (22), Lilis Suminar (30), Ratna binti Titi (25), Ida binti Ade (25).

The other missing people were Syifa, Irwan, Alfar Irvansyah, Ikhsan, Juju Rustandi, Rani, Eulis Ardi, Salfa and Entin Yayat.

In search for the missing victims, the West Java provincial government had ordered search and rescue workers to work for a week.

Around 400 policemen as part of the Search and Rescue
(SAR) team were deployed along with sniffer dogs.

The landslide that had buried almost all parts of the tea plantation, including its offices, mosques, healthcare centers, and some tea factories of Dewata Plantation, occurred on Tuesday at about 08.00 am local time.

While the digging had been officially stopped on Monday (March 1), the heavy equipment and volunteers were still on the disaster site.

Earlier, Vice President Boediono and some cabinet members visited the natural disaster area on Wednesday.

Boediono handed over Rp200 million in cash to help the victims.

He extended the aid when inspecting the location of a landslide at the Dewata Tea Plantation in Tenjolaya village, Pasirjambu on the day.

Pasirjambu sub-district is about 30 km from Ciwidey`s agri tourism area in West Java province.

In the meantime, state-owned workers` social insurance company PT Jamsostek was to pay insurance money to the heirs of the workers who died in the recent landslide at a tea plantation in Bandung district.

PT Jamsostek had also donated humanitarian packages to the victims of the Pasirjambu landslides and Baleendah subdistrict floods.

The muddy flood and landslide victims in six hamlets of the West Java district of Garut, for instance, had even asked the local government to immediately relocate them to safer areas.

A number of PT Cakra Dewata Tea Plantation workers admitted the trauma and refused to return to work in the village following the landslide on Tuesday, and they urged to be relocated to safer plantations.

Apart from that, an executive board chairman of the Hanura (People Conscience) party, Yuddy Chrisnandi said
that the party has formed a rapid response disaster team to extend aid for the victims.

The former member of the House of Representatives (DPR) commission-I, overseeing foreign affairs, information and security affairs however did not give details on the assistance the party would provide.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) provincial office, Hafizh Utsman called on the central government and the provincial administration to make a clear map of the landslide prone areas in the province which shares a border with Jakarta.

"The government should immediately make a clear map, whether the landslide disaster happened due to natural factors or because of mistakes committed by the plantation company which built workers' housing complex," he said.

Deputy governor Dede Jusuf pointed out that 18 of 26 districts/ cities in the province are disaster-prone including landslides and floods.