JAKARTA ~

Chairman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif announced that 79 bodies of the Banjarnegara landslide victims have, so far, been found.

“Seventy-nine bodies have been found. We will continue the search (for the missing victims),” Maarif remarked during a press conference at the presidential office, on Wednesday.

Among the more than 100 people killed in the major landslides that hit Jemblung village, Banjarnegara, 20 were students. Bodies of six students were found, and 14 others still remain missing.

He expressed gratitude to the volunteers who were part of a joint search and rescue team carrying out the evacuation process.

The BNPB chief also urged the Indonesian community to stay alert about natural disasters.

Earlier, the Banjarnegara district administration had announced December 8-21 as a period of emergency response to the landslides that had flattened much of a village in central Indonesia.

Before major landslides hit Jemblung village on Dec. 12, emergency status had already been declared in Banjarnegara as the landslides had struck the sub-districts of Wanayasa, Pejawaran, and Sigaluh, Head of Public Relations, Data and Information Center of the BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho noted in a press statement on Tuesday.

Some 1,145 refugees are currently being accommodated in 10 evacuation shelters. The social affairs ministry and the BPBD, with the assistance of volunteers, have set up a public kitchen to provide food to the refugees.

The public works ministry had deployed 15 heavy equipment to clear some 300-meter-long roads covered with mud and debris reaching heights that range between two and three meters.

Meanwhile President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered the installation of landslide early warning systems in frequently-affected areas to prevent casualties.

“The President has ordered the BNPB to install early warning systems in landslide-prone areas,” Syamsul Maarif said.

Furthermore, the government is also planning to conduct landslide drills for people living in landslide-prone areas, including the southern part of West Java and the central and southern parts of Central Java, he revealed.

Landslides are common in several parts of Indonesia particularly in the dry season.

President Jokowi also has ordered the relocation of Banjarnegara residents who suffered the brunt of the recent major landslides.

“The president has issued an instruction that the victims of the natural disaster comprising 43 families in Karangkobar and 42 in Wanayasa should be relocated,” Syamsul Maarif said.

The BNPB along with several experts from the University of Gadjah Mada, among others, have surveyed several potential locations to relocate the victims.

The construction of the new settlement area will require a funding of around Rp5 billion. The development of infrastructure such as roads, drainage systems, irrigation systems, and river normalization is estimated to cost Rp25 billion.

The victims will be relocated in an area not prone to landslides. The relocation process will be carried out in a comprehensive and integrated manner.

Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister/Head of the National Agrarian Agency (BPN) Ferry Mursyidan Baldan stated that the victims will be relocated permanently to a location far from their previous homes and safe from natural disasters.

Maarif stated that Coordinating Minister for Human Resources Development and Culture Puan Maharani had proposed a productive economic program for the victims of the natural disaster.

The productive economic program will lay emphasis on agriculture and animal husbandry. Paddy and chili seeds as well as animal fodder and medicines, among other things, will also be provided.