Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The flood emergency response period in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, has been extended from January 6 to 19, Data Information Center and Public Relations of the National Disaster Mitigation Agencys Chief Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated.

"Two weeks after the flash floods in Bima on December 21 and 23, the situation has not fully recovered," Nugroho remarked in a written statement received here on Thursday.

He said that following the flash floods, some problems were still being encountered in areas, such as education, garbage handling, health, and the refugee crisis, which must be resolved, and thus, it was decided to extend the emergency response period for 14 days.

In the meantime, Prijono, head of the Bank Indonesia (BI) Office in West Nusa Tenggara, stated in Mataram on Wednesday that BI had, so far, distributed 693 aid packages to the victims of flash floods in Bima.

He said the aid packages were from the Association of BIs Employees, BIs central office, and the banks representative offices.

"The total value of assistance reached Rp140 million. These funds were used to purchase aid packages for the victims, such as basic necessities, clothing, medicines, and essential items for infants," he revealed.

In addition to its contribution, BI was instructed to distribute assistance from the Regional Banking Consultative Agency of Bengkulu Province in the form of food, clothing, and educational tools worth Rp10 million, he remarked.

Based on data provided by West Nusa Tenggaras Regional Disaster Management Agency, thousands of houses in five districts in Bima City were inundated, with water levels ranging between one and three meters. A total of 105,758 inhabitants in the city were affected by the flash floods.

The value of losses incurred due to the floods was estimated to reach hundreds of billions of rupiah owing to damage to roads, bridges, telecommunication and electricity networks, public facilities, as well as local business activities.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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