6 Months After The Earthquake, 3,756 Cianjur Residents Still Receive Non-Cash Assistance

Children play next to temporary shelters in Gasol Village, Cugenang Village, Cianjur Regency, West Java (ANTARA)

Thousands of earthquake victims in Cianjur, West Java, received non-cash and multipurpose housing assistance (BNT) which was symbolically handed over by Cianjur Regent Herman Suherman accompanied by PMI and IFRC administrators at the Cianjur Regency Hall.

The Regent of Cianjur, West Java, Herman Suherman said that since the earthquake hit Cianjur six months ago, PMI and the Red Crescent have distributed various aids to ease the burden of earthquake survivors, including providing various humanitarian services.

"When the others left, PMI was still providing humanitarian services in Cianjur, entering the seventh month after the earthquake, I still saw PMI water tankers channeling water for the needs of residents in the affected villages," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, May 26.

The Cianjur Regency Government, he said, was greatly helped by the presence of PMI volunteers with the support of the Red Crescent or IFRC, not stopping to provide assistance to ease the burden on earthquake survivors, including providing BNT and multipurposes for 3,756 survivors.

The Regent of Cianjur hopes that residents who receive multipurpose assistance of Rp. 1 million and BNT for housing of Rp. 3.5 million will really use these funds according to their designation, such as building temporary and multipurpose housing for food needs.

"Residential and multipurpose non-cash assistance for 3,756 recipients spread across three affected villages such as Nagrak, Benjod and Ciputri have been able to disburse aid at the nearest Indonesian Post Office," he said.

PMI Deputy Secretary, Sunarbowo Sandi, said PMI's humanitarian operation in Cianjur would continue as long as survivors were still living in tents and emergency shelters because of the mandate of PMI Chairman Jusuf Kalla, operations could be continued until the end of the year.

"Over the past six months, all humanitarian services are still running, starting from health services, clean water, construction of emergency housing, pipelines, to non-cash assistance today thanks to PMI and IFRC cooperation," he said.

PMI said Sunarbowo, it is still preparing a number of other programs to ease the burden on earthquake survivors from Cianjur supported by the IFRC until the end of the year, so that earthquake victims return home and no longer live in tents and emergency shelters.