18 May, 2007
TEMPO Interactive, Kupang: Thousands of residents on the northern coast of North Central Timor asked for additional food aid from the government. Residents could not do anything in facing the current sowing and harvest failures. In the meantime, the aid of 334 tons of rice given in March this year is gone.
“The aid was distributed for 20 kilograms a family. It all gone now. We asked the government to help because many residents have already started starving,” said Edmundus, a resident of Humusu village, North Insana District, who was contacted on Friday (18/5).
Now residents survive by selling cattle or working as manual laborers. “Some had to steal in order to obtain food. Robbers and thieves started to walk around the northern coast. All of our cattle was stolen,” said Edmundus.
North Central Timor Deputy Regent, Raymundus Fernandez, said the local government is making efforts to look for aid, either from the provincial governments or humanitarian organizations. “The provincial government has stated its readiness to hand out 60 tons of rice from the Social Affairs Service. We will bring the rice as soon as possible to the disaster location,” said Raymundus.
According to Raymundus, the worst famine threat occurred in 27 villages along the northern coast. Out of that number, 16 villages undergo severe famine throughout the year.
Jems de Fortuna
