Jepara Regency Opens Alternative Route to Prevent Residents Isolated by Landslides

The main road condition to Tempur Village, Keling District, Jepara Regency, Central Java, appears to be cut off because it is eroded by the river's strong water, thus cutting off the residents' access. (ANTARA/HO-Public Relations of the Jepara Regency Government)

JEPARA - The Jepara Regency Government (Pemkab) in Central Java is trying to open an alternative route to prevent residents of Tempur Village, Keling District, from being isolated due to the interruption of the main road access due to landslides at several points.

Camat Keling Lulut Andi Andriyanto said that currently the government together with a number of parties is conducting an assessment to open an alternative route through Medono-Kadalan which does not pass through landslide points.

"To open an alternative route from Medono to Kadalan that does not pass through the landslide location, currently an assessment is being carried out by the Jip Tanbu Community (JTC), BPBD, and volunteers, to ensure the feasibility of the alternative route from Medono to Kadalan as an emergency access for the community," he said in Jepara, Antara, Sunday, January 11.

Based on the disaster response update report on Sunday morning, the weather conditions in the affected areas were observed to be rainy with moderate intensity accompanied by quite strong winds. However, the Damarwulan-Kaliombo and Medani-Kaliombo routes were reported to be passable, with the proviso that they remain aware of the potential for subsequent landslides.

In today's handling, he said, the heavy equipment was temporarily rested. The focus of the handling was shifted to cleaning the road from the landslide material manually along the Kaliombo-Tempur route. The activity involved the village government, Destana Tempur, and volunteers.

In terms of logistics, he continued, the public kitchen today (11/1) received supplies from Dinsospermades, PMI, and BPBD. A total of 100 food packages were provided for breakfast and 400 packages for lunch for volunteers working in the field. The distribution process is still ongoing in relay.

Another urgent need is fuel oil (BBM) to operate the generator set (genset), considering that the electricity flow from PLN has not been restored. A total of 100 liters of fuel oil have been distributed from the Al Fitroh Foundation, while additional assistance from Baznas is planned to follow in the afternoon.

The sub-district government also prepared a logistics post separate from the public kitchen post. The logistics post is combined with the health post and volunteer post to facilitate coordination and distribution of assistance.

"Cross-regional and inter-agency coordination continues to be carried out. The Cluwak Sub-district, Pati Regency, for example, is seeking support from the Pati Regency PUPR Office to help clean up the Medani-Kaliombo route. Meanwhile, donations from the community are facilitated through a one-stop system so that the distribution is targeted," he said.

At the village level, the Head of Tempur Village opened a public kitchen and submitted a request for logistical assistance which had been responded to by the joint logistics team of BPBD, Dinsospermades, and PMI.

The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Jepara Regency recorded that as many as 3,522 people from 1,445 heads of households (KK) in Tempur Village are still isolated due to the total interruption of road access following landslides at a number of points.

From the results of the initial assessment of the Jepara BPBD, there were 18 landslide points with characteristics of severe to critical damage on Friday (9/1) after being hit by heavy rain, causing the access to and from Tempur Village to be completely cut off.