Rules won’t affect aid agencies

Indonesia allows M’sian groups to help Sulawesi quake victims

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian aid agencies have made known that their relief efforts for Sulawesi quake victims are not disrupted by Indonesian rules on foreign volunteers.

This came about following news reports that the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) had ordered foreign aid workers to leave the quake zone in Sulawesi.

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Central Sulawesi on Sept 28. More than 2,000 people were killed, with some 80,000 people displaced.

A spokesman from Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) said there was no issue over the deployment of aid as the relationship between his agency and BNPB was on a G2G basis.

Nadma has sent aid in the form of food and medical supplies, on top of a donation of RM1mil.

“The aid we have sent is based on Indonesia’s request or approval,” he said.

BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho has tweeted a set of regulations for foreign NGOs which are providing relief efforts.

According to the list, foreign workers are not allowed to go directly to the field and that activities must be conducted alongside local partners.

“Foreign NGOs which have deployed their foreign personnel are advised to retrieve their personnel immediately,” it added.

Malaysian Relief Agency secretary-general Dr Shahrizal Azwan Samsudin said the directive by BNPB was given so that relief efforts could be conducted smoothly.

“Some volunteers come bringing their own supplies, so the guidelines are needed or the situation will be chaotic.

“Indonesia has to protect its sovereignty, it cannot just simply allow people to enter,” he said.

He added his team was working with Indonesian partners in the affected region.

“The local partners know the geography of the region and what challenges need to be resolved, so it is better for us to work with the local authorities,” he said, adding his team would open an activity centre there to offer medical help.

Mercy Malaysia president Datuk Dr Ahmad Faizal Perdaus said his organisation would abide by the regulations there.

“We respect the local government’s directive not to send any medical personnel because they have enough manpower on the island.

“As foreigners, we can only play a supporting role to fill any missing gap,” he said, adding they had set up a field hospital in Sibalaya Utara.

Indonesia has to protect its sovereignty, it cannot just simply allow people to enter. Dr Shahrizal Azwan Samsudin