Indonesia Flying Aid For Landslide Disaster Victims In Papua New Guinea

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government has flown aid for victims of landslides in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea using an airplane from the SUMA 1 Base Ops Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta.

Observations at the SUMA 1 Halim Perdanakusuma Base Ops show airport authorities packing at least three units of aid containers from the warehouse into the trunk of the Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330 aircraft.

President Joko Widodo is scheduled to be accompanied by a number of ministers and representatives of the Papua New Guinea Ambassador to release the departure of humanitarian aid with a total amount of Rp. 17 billion directly this afternoon at 15.20 WIB.

The delivery of aid in the form of basic necessities, medical devices, portable generators, solar lights (solar cells), cooking utensils, blankets, sleeping bags and so on will be led by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and Head of the National Disaster Management Agency Suharyanto.

Previously, Muhadjir Effendy said the types of assistance had been coordinated with the Papua New Guinea Government to be right on target.

From Jakarta, humanitarian assistance from the Indonesian government will be sent to Port Moresby International Airport, to be further distributed by the Papua New Guinea Government considering the location of the disaster is quite far away.

The government has confirmed that until now the number of landslide victims in Enga Papua New Guinea Province was recorded at around 670 people, and 1,250 people were displaced, and related to the disaster management process, are currently in the rehabilitation stage.

Papua New Guinea authorities previously reported that 2,000 people were feared to be victims of the landslide that occurred on Friday (24/5).

Muhadjir hopes that the assistance from the Indonesian government can ease the burden on the victims, families and relatives affected by the landslide disaster in Papua New Guinea.