Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), Basuki Hadimuljono, stated here on Wednesday that in the houses damaged by the earthquake in Palu and Doof nggala still had many materials that could be reused and built by the community with the assistance from the Government.
The reconstruction of houses, damaged due to liquefaction (movement of land) and the tsunami, will be carried out by the Government.
In addition, Hadimuljono noted that the death toll was not only caused by earthquakes and tsunamis but also due to the liquefaction or land movements that occurred in Petobo and Balaroa.
"Six units of heavy equipments have been deployed in Petond, four units in Balaroa, including one excavator with stone breaker. We will deploy more to the affected areas. It is estimated that many fatalities were caused due to liquefaction," he explained.f
There was one loader unit in Balaroa; four dump trucks, consisting of two units in Petobo and two units in Balaroa, and two excavators from Makassar.
The cleaning process of the city was carried out using heavy equipment, with a main focus on Balaroa, Petobo, collapsed hotels, and Talise Beach.
The Ministry of PUPR has mobilized three units of excavators, five loaders, four dump trucks, one grader, including in Loli (Section Palu-Donggala).
The city cleaning process is targeted to be completed within two weeks or by mid-October 2018. As proclaimed, the Ministry of PUPR has asked the contractors to assist in the provision of heavy equipment in order to deal with the impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi.
"There are some areas where victims` bodies could be removed and required heavy equipment assistance for evacuation," Syarief Burhanuddin, Director General of Construction at the Ministry of Public Works, remarked in an Indonesian Contractors Association (AKI) Seminar in Jakarta on Tuesday (Oct 2).
According to Burhanuddin, there is currently only a small number of contractors, such as Adhikarya, Bumi Karsa, and several other contractors, who can provide a number of heavy equipment for evacuation and search of victims in the area.
The PURR Ministry has built artesian wells and boreholes in eight locations for water supply for the victims of the Central Sulawesi earthquake.
"The absence of electricity disrupts the function of PDAMs and community wells, and the water availability is very little. We have operated public hydrants with water sources by boring drill wells, artesian wells, and surface water sources," Hadimuljono explained in a written statement.
According to Hadimuljono, there are currently only 15 public hydrants that have been placed in 15 evacuation sites, and more will be added.
The 15 public hydrants are located in Watulemo Square, City Hall yard, Biromaru roundabout, STQ roundabut, Makorem, Great Mosque, Mako Sabara Saboya, Anoa Square, Perdos Square, Dayodara Square, Siranindi Sport Hall, Students Village, Pentolan Boya Village, BTN Lasoni, and Mako Sat Bambob Mamboro.
The gradual delivery of clean water and sanitation facilities will be done by the PUPR Ministry from three warehouses in Makassar, Surabaya, and Bekasi.
Equipment are sent in the form of Water Tanks (MTA), total water treatment plants (IPA), 35 units of stool cars and field cars, 34 units of emergency tents, 49 units of WC knockdown, 25 units of public hydrants, 3 units generators, and others equipment.
Meanwhile, shipments of clean water and sanitation equipment from Bekasi and Surabaya are expected to arrive by ship on Thursday (Oct 4).
Shipments from the Makassar Warehouse, including 2 water tank cars, 15 HU of 2000 liter capacity, 10 Emergency Residential Tents of 3x4 size, and 15 WC Knockdowns, have arrived in Palu City.
The number of public hydrants will be added by 100 units of HU.
In addition, he also monitored the distribution network of drinking water pipelines in Palu City and Donggala City to ensure distribution of clean water.
A 7.4-magnitude quake and tsunami claimed many lives and damaged several houses and buildings.
According to the country`s disaster management agency, the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami climbed to 1,347, as rescue teams scrambled to search for survivors buried in the rubble from the deadly disaster.
EDITED BY INE
Reporter: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Otniel Tamindael
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
