Jakarta – Another 17 people have died in drought stricken Irian Jaya, taking the toll to 462, a report says.
On the other hands, another 90,000 people are now facing serious food ortages, the report added.
The disaster task force in Wamena, capital of Irian Jaya's isolated mountainous district of Jayawijaya, said 11 people in Ninia sub-district and another six in the Tiom sub-district, had died, the Antara news agency said.
Prolonged drought and freak storms also threatened at least 90,000 people of the district's 500,000 inhabitants with serious food shortages, said the head of Jayawijaya district, J.B. Wenas.
Wenas told Antara that drought and hail stones had ruined the local crop of yam, the main staple food. The resulting malnutrition had greatly weakened their resistance to various ailments. On top of the drought, forest and bush fires have become a growing threat.
Some 100 people in two hamlets in Ninia sub-district are surrounded by fires, the Kompas daily said.
Fires in Irian Jaya have already burned over 6,217 hectares (15,355 acres) of forest in the Lorentz national park and sent up thick smoke which has shrouded the region and hampered air relief efforts. Wenas said the authorities were preparing to airlift out villagers if the danger grew.
Relief operations to drop food and medicine aid to the stricken areas in Jayawijaya rely heavily on small aircraft as most villages are on mountain ridges or steep slopes with no roads.
Since relief efforts started on September 23, only 28 tonnes of rice have been distributed while about 36 tones of food a day was needed, Wenas said.
He said relief distribution has been hampered by the limited number of aircraft available, dwindling aviation fuel and bad visibility caused by forest fires.
The Missionary Aviation Fellowship, the Christian mission airline that forms the backbone of Irian Jaya's transportation, has put four of its 14 Cessna planes into the relief efforts and the giant mining concern Freeport Indonesia has lent one of its helicopters.
The reserve of aviation fuel was down to 14 drums, enough for one and a half days flying time," Wenas said.
The disaster task force has received tones of rice, noodles, dried fish, mineral water, yam, snacks, salt, soybeans, milk, sugar, biscuits, medicine and clothing, but they still had to be flown to Wamena for distribution to the drought-hit areas, one official said.
Wenas has expressed concern that the number of victims will rise unless more intense relief efforts are made in the next months. He said that new yam crops, if planted now, would only mature in eight months.
Visiting German environmental expert, Johann Georg Goldammer, said here the drought had not yet reached its climax, which he said would come around December or January, the Antara news agency reported.