Thursday February 8, 5:36 PM     Reuters
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More rains hit flood-stricken Indonesian capital*

By Enny Nuraheni

JAKARTA (Reuters) - More heavy rains struck Indonesia's capital on
Thursday, hampering clean-up efforts and piling on misery for hundreds
of thousands of people camping under make-shift shelters after days of
floods.

However, an official at the Jakarta Flood Crisis centre said the latest
flooding was less widespread than in the past week.

The official, Kartawi, added that water levels at sluice gates
controlling flows into the largely flat, low-lying city had returned to
normal in all cases but one.

The death toll from the floods, Jakarta's worst for at least five years,
remained at about 50, the official said, with around 230,000 still
displaced.

In the Prumtung cemetery in east Jakarta, hundreds of people were living
under tents made of plastic next to gravestones after their homes were
flooded, relying on food handouts.

"I've already been here for seven days with four children," said
Kusmiah, who uses just one name.

With so many displaced since the floods started late last week, there
are concerns about disease and sanitation in the city and its suburbs,
home to an estimated 14 million people.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged to maintain supplies of food
and medicine to those affected.

"The overall situation is improving, even though we still expect that
the rain will return in Jakarta," he told a news conference.

The heavy overnight rains largely subsided in the capital on Thursday,
but the meteorology agency said there could be more rains in the next
few days.

Officials and green groups have blamed excessive construction in
Jakarta's water catchment areas for making the floods worse.

DESPERATE TO GO HOME

In Kampung Melayu, one of the worst-hit areas, the floods had receded
despite the latest rain, although water remained more than 1 metre (3
ft) deep in some places, an official said.

"I still worry that the house floods whenever it rains," resident Saniah
told Reuters Television, as she tried to clean her kitchen utensils in
water collected after recent rain.

The previous flood disaster in 2002 saw widespread looting, but National
Police Chief General Sutanto said there had been no repeat this time and
he had dispatched 14,000 police officers to flood-hit areas, Antara news
agency reported.

Officials have also been on alert for disease outbreaks. So far, people
mainly appear to have been suffering diarrhoea, respiratory infections
and skin diseases.

Losses at manufacturing firms in Jakarta could top 1 trillion rupiah (56
million pounds) due to the floods, Sofyan Wanandi of the Indonesian
Employers Association told the Jakarta Post newspaper.

Insurance firms may face claims of over $200 million (102 million
pounds) from the floods as the damage is seen to be worse than from
floods in the city in 2002, a top industry official said.

"Around 75 percent of the claims may come from insurance policies for
commercial buildings like hotels, shopping centres, malls, banks or
factories," Frans Sahusilawane, the head of the association of
Indonesian non-life insurance firms (AAUI) said.

Bambang Trisulo, the head of Indonesia's Automotive Industry
Association, said the floods were delaying output and distribution,
although the impact should be short-term.

Most of Indonesia's auto makers have their factories in greater Jakarta
area.

(Additional reporting by Mita Valina Liem, Ahmad Pathoni and Reuters
Television)