CENTRAL SULAWESI EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI (3-10 JUN)

Background 6 months after our trip in January 2019, it was time to send a team to follow up on the progress of our transitional shelters building project and to look into possible livelihood projects for the earthquake and tsunami survivors.

Objective 1. To provide status report on the 390 transitional shelters from 2 locations, Jono Oge & Kulawi. 2. To gather more information and finalise possible livelihood project with local.

Team Members Leader & Photo - CK Cheong Treasurer & Travel Log – Chiew Li Yuen

Travel Events

Date Event

Activities

1. Transitional Shelter

Location: Kulawi Transitional Shelter: 250 units (138 completed, 112 in progress) Status: Desa Lonca (16 completed, 29 in progress)

Desa Sungku (7 completed, 37 in progress)

Desa Boladangko Dusun 1 (75 completed, 1 in progress)

Desa Boladangko Dusun 2 (38 completed)

Desa Bolapapu (2 completed)

Desa Matauwe (45 in progress)

Desa Lonca. 16 out of 45 transitional shelters have been completed. There are 148 households, with a population of 554 in this Desa. 90 out of 148 of houses were heavily damaged. According to the village head, relief teams arrived a month after the earthquake. The villagers were completely isolated due to landslide, government aid arrived 1 month after.

During the isolation period, the survivors evacuated to the field and used the tarpaulin which they used to dry their cocoa seeds as to make temporary shelters. They have enough food supply and water supply (from bamboo) to survive for a month. However, electricity supply was cut off for 2 months.

Livelihood in Desa Lonca depends mainly on agriculture. 90% of the villagers depend on farming as a source of income. They plant cocoa trees and harvest the seeds to sell in Palu. Recently, the harvests were decreasing due to weather chnages (more rain, less harvest). Currently, the price of cocoa is ranges from Rp 28,000 to 29,000 per kg, compared to Rp 24,000 to 30,000 per kg before. This is due to the supply chain mechanism (involvement of middle man). Besides cocoa, the farmers also plant durian, avocado and vanilla as secondary crops.

Desa Sungku. There are 362 households with a population of 1,279 in this village (9 km along the road). 90% of the villagers are farmers, they plant cocoa, maize, and durian. The harvest has decreased due to the earthquake. The head of the village recommended to plant vanilla or chili for better income.

Our proposal – Desa Sungku to set up a union / business centre and act as a trading agent to sell their produce in Palu. Difficulties faced in Desa Sungku:

Transportation
Difficult to sell, low market value, low selling price
Lack of knowledge in trading products
Lack of human resource

Location: Jono Oge

Transitional Shelter: 140 units (134 completed, 6 in progress)

Status:

Dusun 4 (66 completed, 3 in progress)

Dusun 5 (68 completed, 3 in progress)

We interviewed few households in Jono Oge,

Pak Idrinarus. He has 2 sons, he built his temporary shelter just beside his previous house. However, he still keeps his valuable items in his previous house. The temporary shelter does not have a lock and has been burglared before.
Pak Jerey. He lost his son in the earthquake. He had built the temporary shelter within a week. He rears pigs just beside his house. The piglet takes 9 months to mature and ready to sell. The buyer will come and buy the pig from him.

2. Livelihood Assessment

Jono Oge, Dusun 4 – The main source of income here is pig farming. During our visit, we came across buyers who had traveled 955km from Manado City (Northern Sulawesi) to buy pigs. Residents from Kulawi (South of Central Sulawesi) also come here to buy the pigs.

Petobo, Posko 6 – 44 villagers were reported to have died here in the liquefaction. There are 300 households in this posko. The head of the posko, Pak Mukadas has received official letter from the government for the villagers to be relocated to Palu City. The villagers refused to do so because they are farmers and do not have farmland in the new area. Besides, they want to maintain the facilities they have built in Petobo (such as mosque, school and football field).

Ibu Hatini who stays in Posko 6 is also a survivor from Petobo. She is staying here with her husband, 6 children and her mother. The major difficulty she encounters is the water source. To get water, she has to travel 300 meters away from her transitional shelter. Every 2-3 days, the local government will deliver water to them via truck.

Recommendation

1. Pig Farming at Jono Oge

1 Month Piglet – Rp. 800,000 to 900,000 = Rp. 850,000 5 Month Food – 300kg, Rp. 4,000 per kg = Rp. 1,200,000 5 Month Pig – 90kg, Rp. 34,000 per kg = Rp. 3,060,000 5 Month gross profit = Rp. 1,010,000

If a household wanted to start this business, they need to have a pair of piglet (male and female). So the offspring of the piglets will be a continuous income for the household.

We proposed to start from a small community of 5 households. Each household need to invest a capital of Rp 1,000,000 and each of them will receive:-

2 x 1 Month of Piglets
2mx2m of Odorless Piggery Farming

Dig 1 meter hole (2x2) insert old wood or decomposing wood.
On top of that, we can lay rice hull (best) or wood dust.
Spread salt, carbon, and local liquor which called saguer here (this is to produce bacteria inside the system).
Cover with another layer of rice hull and salt, carbon and saquer
Repeat step 2 and 3 for 3 times (4 layers).

With conditions:-

Not to sell any pig within the 5 months period. Selling the pigs within 5 months shall be considered as breach of contract and the capital of Rp. 1,000,000 shall be forfeited. A police report shall be made for breach of trust.
To continue with the project, they shall raise at least 1 new generation of piglets from the given pigs.
After the first generation of piglets, they may give their piglet back to the community and the capital shall return to them at a rate of Rp. 500,000 for 1 piglet. Maximum is 2 piglets.

If this pilot project is successful and is proven to be sustainable, CREST will consider to extend it to the rest of the villagers.

2. Transitional Shelter will be completed by August 2019. We welcome our donors to visit the beneficiaries in November 2019.