Humanitarian aid reaches Dili by road<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A convoy of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid
\nprovided by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) arrived
\nin refugee camps outside East Timor's capital of Dili on Thursday
\nfrom Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
Aris Boedihardjo, Unicef communications officer, told The
\nJakarta Post the food convoy reached the hills in Dare without
\nincident.<\/p>\n
Thousands of starving people have been sheltering in Dare,
\nsome 15 kilometers south of Dili, since violence first ravaged
\nthe half-island territory earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\"We got through the border area safely and went on to Dili
\nthis morning without much trouble,\" Aris said, adding that the
\nconvoy was escorted by Indonesian Military (TNI) troops between
\nLiquica and Dili.<\/p>\n
The aid, the first to be delivered by road, included 1.2 tons
\nof baby food, medical supplies, tents, blankets and clean water.<\/p>\n
\"We plan to carry out regular delivery operations by land to
\naugment humanitarian airdrops conducted by other international
\norganizations,\" Aris said.<\/p>\n
To help the mission, Unicef has opened offices in Atambua and
\nDarwin in Australia, according to Aris. The organization's office
\nin Dili will soon resume activities.<\/p>\n
A UN flight carrying thousands of high-protein biscuit packs
\nto refugees hiding in the hills of East Timor did not make its
\ndrop on Thursday because the pilot was unsure about the
\ncoordinates. UN humanitarian coordinators Abdul Mejid Hussein and
\nJulien Lefevre described the problem as \"a mapping issue\".<\/p>\n
\"The drop wasn't identified exactly and they felt uneasy about
\ndropping without being sure of the exact site,\" Lefevre said as
\nquoted by AFP in Darwin.<\/p>\n
Aid officials are facing a race against time to get food and
\nmedical treatment to refugees before the monsoon season begins
\nnext month.<\/p>\n
There are 6,000 tons of rice in the UN's Dili warehouse,
\nenough to feed 500,000 people for one month, according to the UN.<\/p>\n
Hussein said secure roads and sea passage were needed quickly
\nbecause the onset of the monsoon in October\/November would stop
\nairdrops from continuing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, some 4,000 East Timor refugees arrived in Wini Port
\nin East Nusa Tenggara from Liquica. One of the refugees, Domingos
\ndos Santos, told the Post that many more people were stranded in
\nLiquica due to a lack of ferries plying between the town and East
\nNusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
\"People prefer to leave their homeland due to the worsening
\nsecurity situation,\" dos Santos said. He added that with the
\nabsence of buses and trucks, sea transportation had become the
\nonly choice by to flee East Timor.<\/p>\n
Wini has become the destination of refugees streaming from
\nLiquica and Oekusi, the capital of the East Timor enclave of
\nAmbeno.<\/p>\n
East Timor refugees who have sought shelter in the neighboring
\nprovince of East Nusa Tenggara exceeded 205,000 as of Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ministry of Health secretary-general E. Sutarto said that poor
\nsanitation in refugee camps across the province had become the
\ngovernment's main concern. He said, however, there had been no
\nsigns of a certain epidemic diseases.<\/p>\n
Quoting reports from local administration staff, Sutarto said
\nmedical supplies would be enough for the next seven months. The
\ndrugs were provided by the government under a presidential
\ninstruction program, donations from Japan and Australia, as well
\nas the provincial budget.<\/p>\n
The ministry has also launched a vaccination program for
\nrefugees.<\/p>\n
He said the ministry would send 25 reinforcement doctors to
\nAtambua Hospital, while South Sulawesi and Bali have pledged to
\ndispatch 11 and 20 doctors respectively to East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
Apart from medical staff and drugs, the ministry has sent 15
\nambulances, which also can serve as mobile community health
\ncenters, to East Nusa Tenggara. The mobile health centers will
\nprovide service within 24 hours.<\/p>\n
With the wet season approaching, the ministry will step up
\nmeasures to prevent the spread of dengue fever. Sutarto said the
\nprovince was prone to the disease. (05\/06\/27)<\/p>",
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