Australian Defence Force (ADF) engineers deployed to Padang, will today begin producing enough clean water to supply up to 78,000 people in the worst hit areas.

23 soldiers from the Darwin based 1^st Combat Engineer Regiment arrived in Padang yesterday with a water purification plant that can convert sea water into an emergency supply of drinking water at a rate of around 10,000 litres per hour.

The engineers have established one water purification plant on the beach of Padang and are making plans to commence operating another as soon as it arrives from Australia.

The Padang Deputy Mayor Mahyeldi, said that the locals were amazed at how the Australians could turn sea water into fresh water.

“The water tasted very good. It is very good that the Australians can turn sea water into drinking water. Australia’s help is very good. This is the first time we have seen this done,” Mayor Mahyeldi said.

“Thank you to Australia. The Australian people have been very nice to help us and we will do what we can to help them while they are here.”

The Joint Task Force engineer assessment team commander, Major Brent Maddock, said that AusAid had facilitated a coordinated approach with local water authorities, French and German agencies and the ADF to resolve the town’s water distribution problems.

“AusAid has been essential in coordinating this combined approach to solving one of the most pressing problems the city faces,” Major Maddock said.

“Our water purification plant capability along with the water dispersion equipment of the French and the water testing ability of the Germans means we will be able to improve the availability of water to those who need it by at least 400 percent.”

The earthquake caused considerable damage to a water supply station that serviced 60 percent of the city’s water supply. Running water has not been available in the poorest region of the city since the earthquake and people are currently accessing water from open canals and rivers.

To provide some clean water, the local water authority has been using twenty 4,000 litre water trucks to transport water from outlying supply stations that have not been damaged. Water is being delivered to twenty 2,000 litre water tanks that have been located around the city for residents to access.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has grown impatient with the uncertainty surrounding the number of casualties in the West Sumatra earthquake.

During a cabinet meeting in Jakarta on Monday, Yudhoyono asked the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and related ministers to give accurate information about the number of confirmed dead to the media. The president also mentioned CNN’s news ticker text stating that earthquake casualties had reached 4000. 

Yudhoyono asked BNPB and the Minister of Health to investigate where CNN had sourced the number from.

However, on Tuesday the number of casualties being reported from the field still differed. On Tuesday, data from West Sumatra’s disaster management coordination unit (Satkorlak) said that 625 people had been killed while data from BNPB stated that the death toll could reach 1000 people. BNPB’s data was close to the United Nation’s prediction, which said that earthquake casualties would likely reach 1100.

Source: Jakarta Globe

Australian Army Linguist, Lieutenant Elly Poyntz talks with a local doctor outside of the collapsed wing of the Central Provincial Hospital in Padang.
Photo: Australian Department of Defence.

5  October 2009

Australia continues to support Indonesian Government relief and reconstruction efforts following last Wednesday’s devastating earthquake through the deployment of Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and assets to assist. This follows the Indonesian Government’s acceptance of Australia’s offer of emergency assistance on 1 October.

This includes the deployment of:

• ADF medical and health specialists providing a primary health care team and an environmental health team.
• A ten-man military engineer reconnaissance team to assist the Indonesian Government assess civil infrastructure integrity.
• Two C-130 aircraft, which continue to support the Indonesian and Australian aid effort by transporting personnel, emergency equipment and stores between Jakarta and Padang.
• Other C130 and C17 aircraft are able to be deployed as needed to provide additional medical and other assistance to Indonesia.

As of 5 October, ADF aircraft had undertaken 6 flights to Padang.

“Australia is committed to working closely with Indonesian authorities to assist with relief and reconstruction efforts” said Charge D’Affaires Paul Robilliard. “I am pleased that Australian defence assets have been deployed quickly to assist with these vital tasks.”

This assistance is in addition to the A$2.8 million initial response package provided by Australia to Indonesia in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

At this stage there are no Australians confirmed among those killed or injured. Australian Embassy officials continue strenuous efforts to confirm the welfare of other Australians who may have been in the area at the time.

Media Enquiries:
Toby Lendon, Manager (Public Affairs) tel. (021) 2550 5290 mob. 0811 187 3175\

Source: www.indonesia.embassy.gov.au

Source: Jakarta Globe

Padang. With hopes that survivors could still be found amid the rubble of quake-ravaged West Sumatra all but faded, authorities on Monday announced that rescue efforts would be halted, adding to the consternation of relatives of those still missing.

“Our joint SAR [search and rescue] teams, including experts from overseas, have checked in 35 spots across the city, including the Ambacang and Rocky hotels, and the possibility of finding survivors there is zero,” said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB)
Padang. With hopes that survivors could still be found amid the rubble of quake-ravaged West Sumatra all but faded, authorities on Monday announced that rescue efforts would be halted, adding to the consternation of relatives of those still missing.

“Our joint SAR [search and rescue] teams, including experts from overseas, have checked in 35 spots across the city, including the Ambacang and Rocky hotels, and the possibility of finding survivors there is zero,” said Priyadi Kardono, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Priyadi said the decision had been reached during a joint meeting between the BNPB, the local coordinating task force (Satkorlak) and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team on Sunday evening.

“There will be no SAR activities [on Tuesday]. The responsibility of finding dead bodies is not that of the SAR teams.”

He said that it was now up to volunteers or families of the missing to search for the dead, but added, “All damaged buildings will be rebuilt, so I think all bodies will eventually be found.”

Hiroaki Sano, head of the Japan Disaster Relief Rescue Team, told the Associated Press that officials of the UN and the Indonesian government had discussed international assistance and “agreed no further assistance is needed for search and rescues.”

“We got here quickly but we haven’t found any survivors. The first 100 hours are crucial,” he said, adding that the international SAR teams were now preparing to return home.

“They believe we should switch from emergency searches to the rebuilding stage,” Sano said. International aid teams will continue to provide food and other humanitarian assistance, he added.

News of the decision disappointed relatives of the victims. Although they had lost all hope of finding their loved ones alive, they demanded that the government continue working to locate the bodies of those still missing.

Zul Mizrizal told the Jakarta Globe that he was still looking for the body of his niece, Asmidar. She had been attending a seminar at the Ambacang Hotel when Wednesday’s earthquake struck and the building collapsed.

“The government should find her; we want to claim the body,” he said as he waited with four other relatives for news at the morgue of the Dr. M Djamil General Hospital in central Padang.

“Please, don’t stop working to find the people there. It’s just not fair.”

“You can’t stop the search for the dead bodies,” said Asmidar’s nephew, Hanif. “You can’t stop unless it means you are too lazy to continue.”

Meanwhile, Satkorlak member Richard Erlangga said that local teams would continue to recover dead bodies for at least another two days.

“We will search for the bodies,” he said.

“All the corpses that are buried under the rubble of buildings will be located. The case is different with those that are buried by landslides.”

Richard said the site of the landslides that buried four entire hamlets of about 300 people in Padang Pariaman district would be left as mass graves as efforts to retrieve the bodies would be too difficult.

Haris Sarjana, the deputy chief of Padang’s disaster management task force, said many of the volunteers from the military and the police would also stay on to continue to look for bodies.

“There are no problems about the search for bodies — we will find them all,” he said.

“We are trying to retrieve the bodies in a good condition. We will be very careful about that.”

Source: Jakarta Globe

In the days after Wednesday’s devastating earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesians from around the country were quick to respond by volunteering for relief efforts or donating money and goods to the victims.

On Friday, residents from Jakarta and neighboring cities set up a post on Jalan Matraman Raya in Central Jakarta to collect donations.

“We have sent tons of food items, milk, medicine, sanitary napkins and disinfectant liquid to the main command post in Padang since [Friday],” the post’s spokeswoman, Dasniwati, told the Jakarta Globe. “More people keep coming every day, including students from elementary schools. The enthusiasm is good.”

She said post had already collected and sent about Rp 130 million ($13,500) to Padang.

Hundreds of University of Indonesia students in Depok, south of Jakarta, and in Salemba, Central Jakarta, have also been collecting donations since Friday.

Volunteers have been carrying cardboard boxes around the university’s two campuses collecting money from fellow students to send to the victims.

On Saturday evening, television station ANTV organized an hourlong fund-raising program that encouraged viewers to call in donations. One viewer reportedly donated Rp 30 million ($3,000).

The station also established a 24-hour hotline to continue collecting donations from viewers.

Hasan Basri, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Market Traders (APPSI), told the Globe on Sunday that his organization was collecting donations from vendors at 150 markets in Jakarta, in coordination with city market operator PD Pasar Jaya.

“The donations are in the form of money, instant noodles, clothes, blankets and towel. Some take it from their own stores,” he said, adding that APPSI had a post in Pariaman, West Sumatra, where all the donations from Jakarta were being gathered before being distributed directly to the quake victims.

He said that the organization would continue to collect donations for about a month.

“Many of traders in Jakarta are from Padang, so they really want to help,” he said. “APPSI is just collecting the donations and distributing it.”

Aswi Reksaningtyas, a spokeswoman for the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), said there had been an outpouring of relief aid and donations from around the country, particularly West Java.

Aswi said the PMI was encouraging people to donate money instead of food items.

“Donating money is more efficient because it can be used to buy medicine and food items in regions near the affected area,” she said, adding that the PMI has sent more than 250 volunteers, including doctors and psychologists, to Padang and Pariaman.

She would not say how much money the PMI had collected so far, saying they were still counting up the donations and would publish a figure on Friday.

In Palembang, South Sumatra, nongovernmental organizations such as the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the Women’s Crisis Center, and radio stations have been collecting money for the victims since Thursday. They will deliver the donations to victims in West Sumatra and Jambi, which was rocked by a strong quake on Friday.

In Bangka-Belitung province, Antara news agency said merchants and fishermen were collecting money to help the victims.

Darmanto, a merchant in Sungailiat, said he was glad to help however he could, even if he couldn’t afford a large donation.

“Even though it is not much, I’m happy to help the victims,” he said. “The fact that my friends and I are only small merchants does not stop us from helping them.”