Hidayat Nur Wahid, currently deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), conveyed the message while visiting a search and rescue command post to assist flood-affected residents at a Kemang Raya neighborhood in South Jakarta.
"May more people become encouraged to provide humanitarian aid to flood survivors," stated Wahid, who had visited the command post to distribute several hundred breakfast boxes to Bangka Village Head Nofia Enita, who would distribute them to the needy.
The SAR command post, belonging to the National Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Unit, is set up in front of the Panin Bank's office on Kemang Raya Road to conduct search and rescue operations to assist locals, whose houses are inundated by flash floods.
Wahid admitted to having visited four locations to meet flood survivors since Wednesday while distributing the breakfast boxes to the flood victims and volunteers.
Enita noted that Wahid was one of the residents living in the Kemang Timor neighborhood area.
The flooding compelled 1,500 residents of Bangka Village to take refuge in safe places, including schools, mosques, and the village office, as the 150-centimeter-high floodwaters inundated their houses, Enita stated.
On Thursday, the floodwaters had begun receding.
In another development, the Adi Soemarmo Airport authority in Solo, Central Java, reported that flight operations at the East Jakarta-based Halim Perdanakusuma Airport had returned to normal.
"Today, the Halim-Solo-Halim flights have returned to normal," spokesman of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura at the Adi Soemarmo Airport Danar Dewi revealed.
On Thursday, three flights of Citilink and one of Batik Air, served from Adi Soemarmo to Halim Perdanakusuma, Dewi remarked.
On Wednesday, the East Jakarta-based Halim Perdanakusuma Airport was temporarily closed due to flash floods that inundated its runway, but operations were resumed at 4:30 p.m. local time.
As a result of the airport's temporary closure, a Citilink flight got affected, Dewi stated.
Heavy and incessant rains pelted several parts of the provinces of West Java, Jakarta, and Banten over the past two days, causing flash floods to inundate various areas in the capital city in its greater areas, including Bekasi.
Consequently, the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport was temporarily shut down on Wednesday, after its runway got flooded. All flight activities were diverted to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten Province.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the floods, inundating several areas in Jakarta, Bekasi, Depok, Bogor City, Bogor District, Tangerang City, and South Tangerang District, had claimed the lives of 16 people.
Eight of them were Jakarta's residents: M Ali (82), Siti Hawa (72), Willi Surahman, Sutarmi (73), Agus (19), Sanusi, Arfiqo Alif (16), and Yuda Irawan (29). Some among them had died of drowning and electric shock. Related news: Operations restored at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport after flooding
Related news: Severe flooding in Greater Jakarta reportedly claims 16 lives
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Laily R, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
