Rain, rain, go away

One thing I forgot to mention the other day when I was moaning about how bored I get here was that my mood was somewhat precipitated by the fact that it’s been raining constantly for days. Not rain in the pissy drizzle style of an English winter, but full blown, nonstop monsoon downpours.

The rain is so heavy it makes it impossible to leave the house, difficult to hear music or the TV (the metal roof really amplifies what is already a tad more than ‘rain drops falling on my head’), and generally thoroughly depressing to be in Ruteng. I do wonder what suicide rates are like here during the rainy season, but as this is a Catholic region there are, of course, no suicides (they must be hanging out with the gays & the women who have abortions in some Western country far from here!)

Therefore it came as no surprise, but was shocking none the less that there has been a devastating landslide nearby. I first heard about it from a friend in England (don’t you just love the way news travels, but I’ve covered that before) but it was soon backed up by local gossip suggesting that 70 people have been killed. Reports are still hazy, the BBC say 40 dead, whilsy the Jakarta Post say 27 dead and 65 missing. I guess it takes a while to clarify details in this type of disaster.

map of the Manggarai region... I am in Ruteng, the worst of the landslides occured in Cibal

I am, of course, fine – thanks to all of you who saw the news & texted to check on me. But what really strikes me in this land of disasters is the futility of it all. It may sound nasty but it really feels sometimes like they invite catastrophe… the treacherously winding roads (no Romans here!), the annual rains that cause annual landslides, or my personal favorite – the recent case of journalists & investigators who boarded the wreck of a recently burnt out ferry, only for it to promptly (and apparently surprisingly) sink. At the time an official from the rescue services was quoted as saying "we just didn't expect it to happen", but strangely that has disapeared off all news websites now, but you can get the gist on the BBC (Indonesian ferry suddenly sinks).

I can’t help wondering why Indonesian officials cannot learn lessons from these annual disasters. I don’t mean glib English style inquiries, but simple common sense actions – wearing crash helmets on motorbikes, town planning laws, or even just counting the number of people who board a ship before it sails. In a country this big is life really so cheap?