Minister outlines priorities in East Manggarai quake response

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3 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) –

Indonesia’s Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian confirmed that he has drawn up priority plan for assisting the victims of the earthquake in East Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province.

After conducting inspection and holding discussions with quake affected residents in Satar Kampas Village, North Lamba Leda Subdistrict, on Tuesday, Karnavian said the response measures began with efforts to speed up the restoration of electricity network and supplies distribution, particularly basic foodstuffs, to meet the residents’ needs.

“So, the priority is about the electricity, then followed by food supplies distribution. They are in desperate need of food supplies,” Karnavian said in a statement received here in Jakarta.

He would coordinate with a president director of the state-owned electricity company, PT PLN (Persero), to ensure the electricity network restoration in East Manggarai become a priority to recover.

Actually, the power stations and sub-stations of the electricity network there have not sustained any damage. The power cuts are primarily due to the electricity poles that have collapsed as a result of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck on Saturday (August 15).

“If the power goes out, then mobile phone signals will inevitably go down too. Well, those are probably the priority issues we need to address at this moment,” he said.

Minister Karnavian also noted his intention to work with Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin to mobilise more medical staffs to the quake-hit regions, with a focus on North Lamba Leda as one of the hardest-hit areas.

“I will soon call the health minister to request medicines and medical personnel,” he added.

Additionally, he extended appreciation to the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) in deploying hospital ship to East Manggarai.

“If possible, we seek to direct huge naval hospital ship named Dr. Soeharso to Reo region. The vessel will be of much help,” Karnavian concluded.