Gov’t Provides Basic Necessities to Palu and Donggala

President Jokowi inspects quake-affected area in Palu, Central Sulawesi Province on Sunday (30/9). (Photo by: BPMI).

The Government attempts to resolve a number of problems in post-earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Palu and Donggala, Central Sulawesi Province, to be completed within 1 or 2 days.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said several villages were still unable to be evacuated because the heavy equipment is not yet arrived at the affected areas. However, the President expressed his hope that the heavy equipment will arrive tomorrow (Monday, 1/10) morning.

“Minister of Public Works and Public Housing has deployed heavy equipment from Mamuju, Gorontalo, and Poso. In shaa Allah (God willing), it will come tonight and tomorrow morning we will evacuate the victims from unvisited villages,” President Jokowi told reporters at Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport, Palu, Sunday (30/9) afternoon after inspecting affected areas in Palu.

Meanwhile, related to the injured victims, according to the President, approximately 900 victims will be moved to Makassar to get treatment there and the rest are treated in hospitals in Palu.

Furthermore, for fuel supply, President Jokowi realized that the gas stations are filled with people who wanted to get fuel and he already instructed Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to resupply the quake-affected areas with fuel as soon as possible. The fuel shortage, according to the President, is due to the difficulty of road access in Palu.

As for electricity, President Jokowi said that there were only two out of seven electrical substations that work in Palu. “I already contacted Minister of State-owned Enterprises as well as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to resolve it by using mobile substations. The mobile substations will be shipped from Java Island to Palu,” the President said.

According to President Jokowi, there are also problems for food and water availability because many shops are not open yet. The President expressed his hope that this emergency response phase can be resolved as quickly as possible so the disasters affected areas can enter rehabilitation and reconstruction phases for public facilities such as hospitals, schools and bridges as well as for residents’ houses.

In response to a number of residents who wanted to leave Palu, President Jokowi asked related officials to immediately restore post-disaster economic activity. With the recovery of economic activity, it is hoped that the residents will not leave Palu. “We urge the residents of Palu to remain there and continue their daily economic activities so it can speed up the recovery processs of the city,” the President said, adding that the residents must remain vigilant due to future aftershock.

After inspecting four disaster-affected locations in Palu, President Jokowi and his entourage immediately went back to Jakarta via Mutiara Sis Al Jufri Airport at 5:05 p.m. WIB (western Indonesian time) and arrived at the Halim Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base Jakarta at 6:20 p.m. WIB. (UN/ES) (GWH/YM/Naster)