West Sumatra Bishop: Climate change provoked natural calamity

Deborah Castellano Lubov

Flash floods and mudslides in Indonesia's West Sumatra province have killed at least 52 people and more than 3,000 people have been evacuated.

In an interview with Vatican News, Most Rev. Vitus Rubianto Solichin, sx, Bishop of West Sumatra., discussed the ongoing catastrophe and how these disasters are becoming more frequent and devastating as the environmental crisis reaches new heights.

Torrential rains triggered flash floods, landslides and cold lava flows in three districts of West Sumatra province on Saturday evening, Reuters reported. The cold lava flow, a muddy mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra's most active volcanoes, which erupted and caused deaths in December, and has erupted several times since.

Of the 52 dead, the news agency said, more than 45 have been identified, and local rescuers, police and the army continue to search for 17 others who are missing. As of Tuesday, nearly 3,400 people had been evacuated to nearby buildings.

Heavy rain is expected in West Sumatra province until next week, which authorities warn means remaining vigilant for flash floods and landslides until at least May 22. People have been warned to stay away from slopes prone to landslides.

Bishop of Padang: Striking landslide affects many people

In the interview, the Bishop of Padang recalled the torrential rains that hit West Sumatra, in the province of Padang Diocese.

He called the damage “very striking”, given the immensity of this landslide and the fact that so many people are affected, with blockages preventing movement.

“If the government and rescuers work together to clean up the area, then traffic and travel will be okay,” and the inconvenience and peril can be mitigated, the bishop explained.

Need for better infrastructure

“The government,” he lamented, “is not prepared to build a highway.”

Given the propensity of West Sumatra, especially from October to April, even though we are now in May, to struggle with these torrential rains, he stressed the urgency of being equipped and having solutions ready to face natural calamities, like this, at any time.

West Sumatra's many hills and valleys, combined with small provincial roads, the bishop explained, make the situation worse.

“Especially because of deforestation, landslides will occur more and more often,” he said, observing that various calamities caused by natural disasters were occurring more and more frequently.

Indonesia has the highest Muslim population in the world, and in West Sumatra they make up a particularly high percentage of the population. “Especially in my diocese, Christians do not even represent 0.1%”

“There are around 75,000 people affected,” he stressed, “but none of them are Christians. I have questioned the priests of our parishes. There are no victims among our people Christian”.

Aid efforts

A major problem facing those affected, regardless of religion, “is that we also have Christian or Catholic rescuers, but sometimes Muslims don't want to receive Christian or Catholic help.”

“That’s why,” he explained, “we have to use other names, which seem more neutral or more common, like that of the Red Cross.

“They won't accept our help,” the bishop explained, “because they say: 'It comes from Christians'.”

“That’s the problem too,” he said. “We want to help them, but they don’t want to receive the services of the Church,” thinking “sometimes that means we want to Christianize them, but it’s not like that.”

Living and cohabiting together

“We share this tragedy together,” he said.

West Sumatra, he stressed, is the easternmost and most Islamic region of Indonesia, explaining that “the majority of Muslims, including where there are fundamentalists, are here.”

“But in daily life,” he reassured, “we can live together, coexist and collaborate with the government.”