REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Lombok earthquake refugees need at least 500 bathing, washing and toilet (MCK) sanitation facilities, a cabinet minister said. There were only some 50 MCK sanitation facilities that have been made available to the refugees.

"We will dispatch others from Surabaya (East Java) and Jakarta," Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono said here on Friday.

The minister made the statement after a limited cabinet meeting on the handling of the earthquake in North Lombok of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province. There are some 240 thousands of refugees who are being housed in some 500 refugee camps in West Nusa Tenggara.

Hadimuljono said the types of assistance needed in the current emergency response include tents for getting rest, clean water supply and sanitation facilities (MCK). The minister revealed that in North Lombok District, there are 12 artesian wells now being utilized to supply water.

Besides that, 13 water tank trucks are also being operated to supply water to the refugee camps. He said that there were 12,278 houses with minor damage, 723 with moderate damage and 9,220 others with severe damage.

In the meantime, the Head of Data Center, Information and Public Relations of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said the earthquake that struck Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, last Sunday, had killed 321 people. He predicted the number of people who died in the earthquake continued to rise.

There were also victims who had previously not been reported and victims who were successfully evacuated," said Nugroho, through a written message received in Pekanbaru, Friday.

"This means the number of dead people had exceeded 321, but the figure still needed to be verified," he explained.

Nugroho said the highest number of victims were from North Lombok District, reaching 273 people, West Lombok (26), East Lombok (11), Mataram City (seven), Central Lombok (two) and Denpasar City (two).

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