MEDAN, Dec. 28--Antara-AsiaNet/InfoQuest
The government has declared the Polonia military airbase in Medan as a main
point of distribution of relief aid including food and medical supplies the
victims of the powerful earthquake and gigantic tidal waves that struck Aceh,
Vice President Yusuf Kalla said upon arrival at the airport on Monday.
Kalla who is also chief of the Aceh Disaster Tackling Team, said that
survivors are in need of food and medical supplies while many of the dead
victims have yet to be evacuated.
He hoped that the evacuation of the victims would proceed smoothly in the
emergency situation within one or two days.
The vice president hoped the emergency situation would be overcome in the
next one or two days, otherwise various diseases caused by bad sanitation would
hamper the evacuation of the victims.
He, meanwhile, said international communities will provide humanitarian
aid to Indonesia in addition to those given to the other disaster-striken
countries.
Australia is one of the countries that has pledged an emergency assistance.
The Australian government has approved an immediate alocation of A$10
million for emergency relief operations in countries, including Indonesia,
affected by the Sunday's tidal waves, a press release said.
It the release made available to ANTARA here on Monday, the Australian
government said much of the assistance was likely to be directed through
international relief agencies such as the Red Cross and UN humanitarian
agencies.
The disaster caused by the earthquake in the ocean off northern Sumatera,
Indonesia, on Sunday morning, was of extraordinary proportions, it added.
Media Contact:
Saidulkarnain Ishak,
Chief of Antara Bureau in Aceh,
Tel: +62-8126-982535
SOURCE: Antara News Agency
--Distributed by AsiaNet (www.asianetnews.net)--