Aid for Vanuatu Showed Indonesia's Quick Disaster Response

TheIndonesia.co - The dispatch of humanitarian aid to support the handling of the earthquake in Vanuatu is an example of the Indonesian government's rapid response to requests for such assistance from other countries, Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono said, as quoted by Antara.

"We received the letter dated December 22, 2024, and we immediately processed it. In principle, it is efficient. The aid will arrive within 12 hours of travel," he added after reviewing the preparations for sending the aid from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta on Friday.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) sent humanitarian aid ranging from medicines, medical equipment, antibacterial, and food, to evacuation logistics weighing a total of 50.5 tons and worth US$726 thousand to Vanuatu.

The aid was transported using two aircraft—a Garuda Indonesia plane (PK-GFM) and a BBN Airline plane (PK-BBN)—from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base on Friday.

The aircraft left from Jakarta and headed to Jayapura where they will make a transit stop before landing in Port Vila city, Vanuatu. The aircraft are scheduled to return to Jakarta on Saturday.

Besides logistical assistance, the government also deployed 15 paramedic personnel consisting of five specialist doctors (a surgeon, orthopedist, internist, anesthesiologist, and emergency medicine physician), three general practitioners, five nurses, one pharmacist, and one logistics expert.

The earthquake that hit Vanuatu on December 17 affected 80 thousand people, including 14,104 children and 769 people with disabilities.

The disaster killed 18 people, left 200 people injured, and forced 947 others to seek shelter in churches and residents' homes in Manples, Britano, Kaweriki, and Kona. The country set an emergency status from December 17–24.

Minister Sugiono said he hopes the assistance from Indonesia would ease the burden on the affected and speed up the recovery from the impact of the earthquake, which struck several areas in Vanuatu.