EFFORT FOLLOWING TSUNAMI
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proportions – and the true extent of suffering is only just starting to be uncovered.
“It’s the biggest disaster anyone in the province of Sulawesi has faced in living memory. All those I’ve met will take many years to get their lives back on track.”
Almost every single building in Petobo has been destroyed. Wrecked cars and vans, many flipped over on their roofs, are everywhere.
Children’s bikes, toys, beds and other household items and mementos lie flung among twisted metal and rubble.
Elsewhere, in the wider area of northern Sulawesi, several towns and villages have been wiped out and are still difficult for aid workers to reach. Fishing boats have washed up on land, the streets are strewn with debris from fallen buildings, and tent cities have sprung up in every district.
Back in Petobo, we find survivor Murline, 36, looking for what is left of her home.
Standing alongside her nephew Putra, 13, she fights back tears as she says: “I’ve nothing left. My home doesn’t even exist. It’s gone. When the earthquake hit, the building The British Red Cross has launched the Indonesia Tsunami and Earthquake Appeal to raise funds for the relief effort.
To donate, visit: www. redcross.org.uk/indonesia or call 0300 023 0819.
Funds raised by the British public will be used to support those in need by providing water, food, sanitation and medicine – all in short supply – as well as shelter and bedding for the thousands of displaced people. began to shake but I didn’t know what was happening. We were all terrified, but I managed to run and get to safety in the mosque. I am now in a tent next to the airport with my sister and brother. It isn’t easy.”
And the survivors are not safe yet. At mobile health clinics – where doctors are predominantly treating women and children – more than 100 people a day are now being diagnosed with skin rashes and cases of diarrhoea as well as stomach problems and flu.
And it is feared disease caused in the aftermath of the crisis could yet claim more lives.
The UN has allocated £11.5million to help and more than 25 countries have offered assistance, including the British Government. We have sent an RAF plane full of supplies, including 1,300 shelter kits, 2,300 water purifiers and 1,000 solar lanterns after pledging £3million in support.
A ship sent by the Red Cross yesterday arrived in Palu carrying aid and supplies, including seven water trucks, five field kitchens and, inevitable, 300 body bags. And two more of their ships are also now on their way with more water, food, tarpaulins, mattresses, sleeping bags, an ambulance and hygiene kits.
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But the efforts of some international aid agencies to reach survivors is being hampered by transport difficulties, including damage to the airport runway, as well as many roads and bridges.
British Red Cross Head of Global Emergencies Ben Webster said last night: “The humanitarian need in Sulawesi is extensive. Each day that passes our hope of finding more people alive fades.
“But we now have more than 400 volunteers on the ground providing search and rescue, medical care, clean water, food, shelter and much more.” Indonesia’s senior security minister, General Wiranto, said the government is now considering turning Petobo and another area Balaroa into mass graves.
But Yonas, standing by his flattened home, reckons it’s too late for that. “It is a mass grave already,” he says.
YONAS SALIM ON THE DISASTER IN PETOBO