BANDUNG NATURAL DISASTER VICTIMS RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID

Bandung, W Java, March 6 (ANTARA) - The Bandung city government on Saturday distributed financial aid packages to people of five sub-districts recently hit by floods and whirlwinds.

The financial aid packages to the people were given by Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada and his deputy, Ayi Vivananda, to the heads of the respective subdistricts at the Mandalajati sub-district office here.

The recipients were the sub-districts of Mandalajati, Coblong, Panyileukan, Cibeunying Kaler, and Cidadap.

Dada Rosada said the best solution for the natural disaster victims was relocating them to safer areas as well as deepening and widening the rivers passing through the sub-districts.

"What is more important right now is how to relocate the people to safer areas ...," he said.

About the distribution of the aid packages to survivors, the head of Mandalajati sub-district, R.Sarjani Saleh, promised to do it as soon as possible.

"We hope the financial aid packages will be of real help to our people," he said.

Over the past two months, Bandung city and district as well as other parts of West Java province have continuously undergone such natural disasters as floods, landslides and whirlwinds.

The ongoing heavy rains had caused the overflowing of main rivers and floods in various areas.

The torrential rains in Bandung city had recently killed two people. They were identified as Asep Jaja and Sugiri DH Mahari.

On February 23, a landslide that hit the Dewata tea plantation in Tenjolaya village, Pasirjambu subdistrict, Bandung district, killed more than 40 people.

Among the dead victims were number of the plantation's tea pickers.