EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR W JAVA QUAKE TO END ON WEDNESDAY

Jakarta, Sept (ANTARA) - The government has set Wednesday as the deadline for emergency response in quake-hit areas in West Java province, a minister said.

"The emergency response will end on September 16. But if remote areas are still in dire need of aid we will continue helping them," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie said here on Tuesday.

He made the remarks when announcing the results of a coordination meeting to discuss efforts to deal with the impact of a magnitude 7.3 earthquake that rattled part of West Java on Sept 2.

Also present at the meeting were Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto, Social Service Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah, Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Board (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif and West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan.

After the emergency response period ended, the government would stop providing emergency aid to quake victims who were considered able to meet their own needs, Syamsul said.

"After all, we will continue to assist those who still need help," he said.

Aburizal said relief aid from non-governmental institutes and individual donors for quake victims in West Java were still pouring in.

He said after the emergency response period ended the government would start post-quake rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

The government has decided to allocate Rp1.781 trillion in funds for the reconstruction of houses damaged in the quake. The project is expected to start in-mid October.

"We are still in the process of verifying data on the extent of damage. The verification is expected to be completed on Oct 15. Afterwards, the reconstruction project can be started," he said.

At least 81 people were killed and 1,238 others injured in the quake. A total of 45 people are still missing.

The quake also forced 177,490 people to evacuate.

Data from the West Java government show a total of 200,192 houses were damaged in the quake. Of the total, 53,880 houses were seriously damaged, 48.259 houses moderately and 98,053 others lightly.

The quake also caused damage to 6,756 school buildings, 144 public health service posts, 5,883 mosques, 675 government offices, and 68 Islamic boarding schools. ***3***
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