Restriction on aid workers

Another earthquake rattles devastated residents; Gift of the Givers confined to hotel

ANOTHER earthquake rocked the Indonesian city of Palu yesterday, causing panic but no reports of damage, an official said.

Palu was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami last month with the death toll in Central Sulawesi province rising to more than 2000 yesterday, the state news agency Antara reported.

Yesterday’s magnitude 5.2 quake struck at 4.15am at a depth of 10km with the epicentre 5km north-east of Sulawesi, said Sutopo Nugroho, National Disaster Management Agency spokesprson.

“The quake was felt strongly for five seconds,” he said.

Palu resident Taufan said residents ran out of their homes in fear. “Everyone is still traumatised by the earlier quakes.”

In the village of Silae, several homes which were damaged by the earlier earthquakes collapsed, but no one was hurt, witnesses said.

Another resident, Mardiana Taha, said rumours circulating on WhatsApp said there would be more earthquakes.

“Everyone is afraid. We’d better stay outside,” he said.

Shops, schools and government offices in the quake-hit region have begun reopening, as survivors tried to rebuild their lives.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government began restricting the movement of foreign aid workers yesterday.

The number of bodies recovered after the September 28 disaster that hit Palu and areas in Central Sulawesi province rose to 2010, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

Officials fear that hundreds, if not thousands, were still buried after their houses were swallowed by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that turned the ground into liquid.

The agency urged foreign aid groups that had sent foreign workers “to retrieve their personnel immediately”.

“Foreign non-governmental organisations wishing to provide aid can do so through the Indonesian Red Cross, with the guidance of the related ministries/agencies or local partners,” it said in a message posted online.

The Foreign Ministry said the measure was intended to ensure smooth co-ordination.

“If not, we will be in a situation where the presence of foreign aid workers, who have good intentions, may hamper the rescue and recovery work carried out by the national team,” ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said.

The South African aid group, the Gift of the Givers, arrived with 27 search-and-rescue and medical specialists but they have spent the past three days in a hotel compound in Palu after being told not to leave the premises, Sky News television reported.

“It is difficult to tell international teams arriving here, when you have already encountered massive costs, massive cargo and then say to international teams that they will be recalled,” team leader Ahmed Bham said. “It doesn’t make sense at all. If you need boxes moved or aid carried, just let us know. We will distribute it.

“We have good medicines with us, we have the stuff they need here.”

Disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo said most of the 1 539 who died in Palu were killed by the tsunami.

The agency hopes to end the emergency response period and the search operation tomorrow.

“Whether this will be extended will depend on the local capability and capacity to care for the displaced and other people affected,” agency chief Willem Rampangilei said.

The head of Central Sulawesi social affairs department, Ridwan Mumu, said some villages would be turned into memorial parks, where monuments to remember the dead would be built.