Aid moves to thousands displaced by Indonesia floods

JAKARTA, Dec 28 (Reuters) Government and aid agencies were moving food, water and medical aid on Thursday to hundreds of thousands forced into temporary shelters by floods and landslides on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

Officials used helicopters to reach remote points in Aceh province on the northern tip of the island, while military planes and dozens of lorries shuttled relief supplies to other areas.

Health authorities began treating well water to stem the outbreak of disease.

The confirmed death toll in Aceh and neighbouring North Sumatra province has remained around 100 in recent days, but figures for the displaced, many of whom lack basic necessities, have climbed to above 400,000.

''Displaced people in Aceh are at 365,335, while in North Sumatra (they are) at 44,189,'' said Laksmita Novira, a UN aid spokeswoman in Aceh.

More than 200 people were missing in Aceh alone, she said.

Medication and doctors had been sent to help the displaced, according to Rustam Pakaya, the health ministry's crisis centre chief. ''So far there is no serious health problem,'' he said.

Lina Sofiani, a UNICEF officer in Jakarta, told Reuters: ''Today, a child protection team from UNICEF's Banda Aceh base will go to east Aceh. Three diarrhoea cases were reported''.

The government was sending additional food to flood-affected areas, polluted wells were being treated with chlorine, and temporary camps fogged with insecticide, the health ministry's Pakaya told Reuters.

TWO YEARS AFTER TSUNAMI The flooding came two years after a giant tsunami left about 170,000 dead or missing in Aceh, a remote but resource-rich province whose capital, Banda Aceh, is 1,700 km northwest of Jakarta.

Aceh and North Sumatra produce palm oil, coffee and rubber, while Aceh has major offshore natural gas fields and related onshore facilities.

However, traders and officials say effects from the flooding have been minimal on output and processing of all those commodities except for rubber. Traders say washed out bridges and damaged roads have hampered delivery of raw materials to factories and pushed up rubber prices.

Authorities blame heavy rains and the effects of deforestation for the latest destruction. Lack of adequate forest cover leaves the ground less able to absorb excess water.

Flooding has also hit parts of peninsular Malaysia, across the Strait of Malacca from Sumatra.

Floods in the worst-hit state of Johor have killed nine people, with four others still missing.

The floods, which the government described as the worst since 1969, have displaced more than 60,000 people in the states of Johor, Pahang and Malacca.

Malaysia's Meteorological Department said rains in Johor and southern Pahang were expected to continue until Sunday.

REUTERS BDP DS1130