The deployment of these volunteers was witnessed by Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo during a morning roll-call held at the yard of his office in Semarang on Monday.
The volunteers were recruited from various organizations, including disaster mitigation agencies, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), Tagana emergency response units, Muhammadiyah, and Nahdlatul Ulama.
Pranowo remarked that the volunteers will be posted for a week in the flood-hit areas, but their assignment can be extended if the need arises.
On Friday (Jan 3), the Central Java provincial government had also sent three trucks loaded with humanitarian aid packages to assist the flood and landslide victims in Banten, Jakarta, and West Java.
The aid packages were sent to each of the three provinces' disaster mitigation agencies to be then distributed to those in need, Pranowo stated, adding that this humanitarian aid was emblematic of the brotherhood and care of the people of Central Java for those affected by the deadly catastrophe.
The humanitarian aid packages comprised 33 items, such as baby diapers, blankets, bottled water, school uniforms, tents, mattresses, sarongs, and mukenas (head-to-toe prayer gowns), wherein each contained two thousand pieces, he stated.
Central Java also received humanitarian assistance from various parties across Indonesia when a massive landslide swamped an area in Banjarnegara several years ago, he remarked.
Related news: Anies Baswedan joins a clean-up activity in Kampung Makassar
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On Sunday (Jan 5), Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan worked hand-in-hand with the residents of Kampung Makassar in East Jakarta to clean their neighborhood area after the floodwaters, inundating the suburban area, receded.
In helping ease the burden of those suffering from the impacts of this catastrophe, Baswedan appealed to Jakartans to conduct a simultaneous "working together" activity to clean their respective neighborhood areas after the floodwaters receded.
The Jakarta provincial administration noted that 15 percent of the capital city's areas were swamped by this early January's flash floods.
In certain parts of Jakarta and its greater areas, the floodwaters had begun receding. According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the flash floods and landslides striking is early January had killed 60 people and led to two others going missing.
The flooding swamped a wide range of areas in various sub-districts in the provinces of Jakarta, West Jakarta, and Banten, the agency's spokesman, Agus Wibowo, noted in a press statement.
The flash floods, caused by high-intensity rainfall over the past three days, swamped several areas of 18 sub-districts in Bekasi District, 17 sub-districts in Jakarta, and 13 sub-districts in Bogor District and Tangerang City respectively.
The disaster also affected 12 sub-districts in Bekasi City, 11 sub-districts in Depok City, and six sub-districts in Lebak District, Bogor City, and Tangerang Selatan City respectively, Wibowo stated.
Consequently, floodwaters, submerging houses, led to the forced displacement of 149,537 residents of Bekasi City in West Java Province. They were accommodated at 97 temporary shelters, while 11,474 Jakartans also took refuge and stayed at 66 temporary shelters.
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Translator: Wisnu AN, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
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