Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Indonesia president to visit Papua disaster zone

Posted at 23:21 on 12 October, 2010 UTC

The Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is today expected to visit the Wasior area of West Papua which has been hit by floods that killed more than 145 people.

This comes after the President had ordered that rehabilitation and reconstruction start as soon as the relief operation finished.

In Jakarta, the government told the Jakarta Post that the mudslides were not the result of illegal logging, saying there is no evidence of such activity nearby.

Environmentalists had accused the government of mismanaging natural resources, saying Jakarta had issued licences for massive forest conversions that eventually led to last week’s flash flood.

As relief efforts continue, reports say aid supplies were sent to the devastated town of Wasior despite the fact that most survivors had been evacuated to the provincial capital Manokwari.