Indonesian police prepares to dispatch personnel to catastrophe-hit areas

Indonesian national police plans to deploy 3,500 of its personnel to catastrophe-affected areas nationwide to help affected people as fears for risks of heavy downpours linger in months to come, police officer said here Wednesday. Badrodinhop Haiti, senior police officer at the police headquarters, said that the deployment was part of police participation in a quick response to the possible catastrophe in the country. "We prepare our personnel as the meteorology agency foresees rain is going to peak up to March. We are preparing to take part in efforts to handle its risks in a long term,"Haiti told the media. "Once the provincial police require help from us, we are ready to comply with it, sending personal and equipment." Indonesia, a vast archipelago country, has been battered by floods, landslides and volcano eruption as the country enters wet season and vulnerable to volcanic upheaval. Consecutive days of torrential downpours have indulged several areas, including Jakarta, West Java, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Java and South Sulawesi, leaving dozen of casualties and forced more than 80,000 others to flee home. Seasonal downpours have often incurred floods each year in Indonesia, a chain of 17,500 islands where millions of people live in vulnerable flood plains that are near to rivers. Indonesia is homed by 129 active volcanoes and is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.