JP\/5\/RELAWAN<\/p>\n
Foreign volunteers free to stay as long as they wish on Nias<\/p>\n
Apriadi Gunawan
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Medan<\/p>\n
The North Sumatra provincial administration, which is in charge
\nof disaster mitigation on Nias island, on Thursday announced that
\nit would give ample time for the foreign relief workers involved
\nin humanitarian relief efforts to stay in the area, and gave
\nassurances as regards their safety.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the North Sumatra Natural Disaster
\nCoordinating Unit (Satkorlak), R.E. Nainggolan, said that the
\nforeign volunteers in Nias had helped considerably to ease the
\nburden on Satkorlak in conducting relief efforts and their
\npresence was still greatly needed.<\/p>\n
Nainggolan said that based on these considerations, the
\nprovincial administration had decided not to set any time limit
\nfor the foreign volunteers until the situation in Nias had
\nimproved.<\/p>\n
According to Nainggolan, the decision had been taken due to
\nthe fact that Nias, unlike Aceh, was not a conflict area and that
\nthe foreign volunteers would be in no danger.<\/p>\n
\"It's up to them how long they want to stay in Nias. We will
\nnot limit their stay. Their presence is still needed, as they
\nhave proven themselves to be totally dependable in helping
\nvictims over the past two weeks. The disaster mitigation efforts
\nwould definitely be slow without their help,\" Nainggolan told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Nainggolan added that the number of foreigners who had arrived
\nin Nias since the disaster stood at 446, and that they were drawn
\nfrom eight United Nations organizations and 71 non-governmental
\norganizations. There were also 36 foreign journalists in the
\narea.<\/p>\n
Most of them came from Singapore, the United States of
\nAmerica, the Netherlands, Croatia, Germany, France, Malaysia,
\nRussia, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Hungary, Norway, New Zealand
\nand China. There were also 520 local volunteers from 41
\norganizations doing relief work in Nias, which was recently
\nrocked by an 8.7-magnitude earthquake that killed hundreds of
\npeople on Nias and on surrounding islands.<\/p>\n
Nainggolan said that while the number of foreign volunteers
\nkept increasing, some had also returned home. Those who had left
\nwere from Hungary, Singapore and Australia.<\/p>\n
According to Nainggolan, all of the foreign relief workers on
\nNias are being coordinated by the United Nations Organization
\nCoordinating Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), assisted by three
\nliaison officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n
He added that every foreign volunteer doing humanitarian work
\nin Nias would be treated well.<\/p>\n
\"We will treat them like members of our own family and their
\nsafety will be the full responsibility of our security personnel,\"
\nsaid Nainggolan, who is also the head of the North Sumatra
\nInformation and Communications Agency.<\/p>\n
Polonia Airport Immigration Unit director Sigit Roesdianto
\nsaid that most of the foreign volunteers had been issued visas on
\narrival or short-stay entry permits. About 190 of them had
\nalready returned home.<\/p>\n
Nainggolan said that Satkorlak was grateful for the large
\namount of foreign aid donated to the quake victims in Nias. To
\ndate, hundreds of tons of foreign aid from a number of donor
\ncountries had arrived on Nias.<\/p>\n
The aid was being distributed to quake victims in Nias and
\nSouth Nias regencies. Nearly everywhere on Nias had received
\nsufficient aid three weeks after the disaster.<\/p>\n
However, he added that there was still a shortage of tents for
\nthose who had been displaced.<\/p>\n
\"We still require about 3,000 tents because many of the
\ndisplaced are still afraid to return home. They are still
\nsleeping in the open air without tents,\" said Nainggolan, adding
\nthat the UNHCR had recently delivered about 752 tents.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5relawan-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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