Louise Williams – Food stocks in drought-stricken regions of Irian Jaya are almost exhausted and up to 20 per cent of the population of some villages has already died, according to the latest report on the famine by the Australian Red Cross.

The Red Cross said Indonesian sources had reported to the International Red Cross mission operating in Irian Jaya that 250,000 people were at risk of starvation.

According to aid officials, 80 per cent of food reserves in the Mimika and Jayawijaya districts have been exhausted and the next harvest is not expected until June or July.

Although rain has began to fall across Indonesia, the long drought has delayed planting in many areas and many crop failures are expected.

In the remote mountains of Irian Jaya the mainly tribal communities normally rely on yams as their staple food.

Unusually high temperatures associated with the strong El Nino pattern, as well as a significant delay in seasonal monsoon rains, means crops have shrivelled and died.

The Indonesian Government has reported more than 600 deaths.

Most of the highland people in Irian Jaya can be reached only by air, making food and medical missions difficult and expensive.

The Red Cross statement said that in two villages reached by helicopter 20 per cent of the population had died, 55 per cent of infants were suffering from malnutrition and 95 per cent of villagers had malaria.

"The fate of thousands of people will be determined in the next two months," according to the Red Cross team.

Mr Jim Carlton, the secretary-general of the Australian Red Cross, said it was the worst drought in Irian Jaya in living memory.

"Malnutrition and malaria have reach devastating proportions and famine has advanced to the final stages in some of the villages in the highlands, with children and the elderly the main victims."