Victims of deadly floods and landslides that struck Indonesia's Sumatra island last year filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding the government declare a national disaster to speed up reconstruction, plaintiffs' lawyer told AFP.Devastating floods and landslides killed more than 1,200 people, according to a government tally, when they struck swathes of Sumatra in November in one of the worst disasters to hit the archipelago since a 2004 tsunami.
The government has pointed to the role forest loss played in the disaster and moved to revoke the permits of more than two dozen companies alleged to have committed violations.
But plaintiffs want the government to declare a national disaster in provinces affected, to help local governments speed up post-disaster reconstruction, Muhammad Qodrat, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told AFP.
On Thursday, seven residents of the North Sumatra, Aceh and West Sumatra provinces filed a suit in the Jakarta state administrative court, Qodrat said.
"On the ground, the rehabilitation and reconstruction process is progressing very slowly. Many people have yet to receive temporary or permanent housing," the lawyer said.
"That is why (we) demand this be declared a national disaster, along with funding and a working mechanism directly overseen by the central government."
Qodrat said the plaintiffs are also seeking an environmental audit of mining and plantation concessions and of companies found to have violated regulations.
