Migrant Acehnese in anguish over uncertainty<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Yogyakarta\/Bandung<\/p>\n
\"I haven't heard from my family. They live in Lhoong district
\nalong Aceh's eastern coast, which is isolated because
\ntransportation access was cut off,\" said Andri Gunawan on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
When Andri learned on Wednesday that he could go to Banda Aceh
\non a Hercules aircraft chartered by an anonymous woman, the
\nAcehnese's face filled with relief and hope.<\/p>\n
\"I will find a way to reach Lhoong when I touch down in Banda
\nAceh. I will walk if I have to,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lhoong is located only 50 kilometers or so south of Banda
\nAceh, but the main road between the two cities was completely
\nswept away by tidal waves from Sunday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake.<\/p>\n
Many migrant Acehnese living, studying or working outside
\ntheir hometowns, like Andri, went to a humanitarian aid post at
\nthe Aceh Students Dormitory in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, to
\ndeliver donations, seek information or merely show sympathy.<\/p>\n
\"Besides food, clothes and money, we also need flights to
\nBanda Aceh. We need to send volunteers there because we have seen
\non television that there are so many dead and the situation is
\nout of hand,\" said the post deputy coordinator, Ismail Berdan.<\/p>\n
Locals in Aceh and North Sumatra are in dire need of help to
\nbury recovered bodies and prevent a post-disaster outbreak of
\ndisease.<\/p>\n
Commercial flights to Banda Aceh are fully booked, even though
\nairlines have expanded their services to Banda Aceh and Medan.<\/p>\n
\"My friend has been looking for a vacant seat on any flight to
\nBanda Aceh since yesterday. He even slept at the (Soekarno-Hatta
\nInternational) airport last night,\" said Zulfadli.<\/p>\n
An unidentified woman has responded to the Acehnese's plight
\nwith the unexpected offer of a flight to Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"A woman just sent a message saying she has arranged a
\nHercules plane for 30 to 50 people to fly to Banda Aceh tomorrow
\n(Wednesday),\" a volunteer told his friends, who welcomed the news
\nwith relief.<\/p>\n
\"She said she could not provide any money, only the flight.
\nWill that be all right?\" he asked again, the anonymous caller on
\nhold.<\/p>\n
All at the post replied immediately that the flight was the
\nmost important thing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Aceh, a provincial official provided a death toll
\nof 7,072, but Vice President Jusuf Kalla estimated that the
\nnumber of fatalities could reach 25,000.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty, confusion and grief united hundreds of Acehnese
\nstudents in Yogyakarta on Tuesday as they waited for news from
\nhome, commiserating at the newly established Humanitarian Aid
\nPost for Aceh, which is collecting donations and registering
\nvolunteers.<\/p>\n
The group intended to send volunteers to Aceh province, but
\nwere not sure how to deliver the donated supplies to those in
\nneed.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, hundreds of Acehnese students were desperately
\nlooking for a way to transport and distribute all the supplies
\nthey had collected.<\/p>\n
\"We need to send money, hundreds of boxes of instant noodles,
\nclothes and blankets. There are also 50 volunteers ready to go
\nthere,\" said Priyanto Kurniawan, who is from Langsa, Aceh.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/migrant-acehnese-in-anguish-over-uncertainty-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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