Soeharto consoles quake survivors<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto visited some of the survivors
\nof the devastating earthquake in the Gunung Kerinci district of
\nJambi yesterday, consoling them and providing words of
\nencouragement.<\/p>\n
Soeharto traveled by helicopter from Padang in West Sumatra to
\ntour the town of Sungaipenuh and nearby villages in the western
\npart of Jambi province that were ravaged by Saturday's quake,
\nmeasuring 7 on the Richter scale.<\/p>\n
He stopped by a state hospital in Sungaipenuh to talk with
\nsome of the injured people.<\/p>\n
Because of the trauma and fears of another earthquake, all the
\n140 patients were being treated outside the hospital buildings in
\nmake shift tents, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
\"Does your head still hurt?\" Soeharto asked one female
\npatient.<\/p>\n
During the conversation with Soeharto, the woman, who was not
\nidentified by Antara, recalled the moments when the earthquake
\nstruck in the early hours of Saturday, and how she was hit by a
\nplank that fell from the roof of her house.<\/p>\n
There was a touching moment when one injured woman asked the
\nPresident to give a name to her new born baby girl.<\/p>\n
Soeharto duly complied, naming the child Sri Amini.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti
\nRukmana, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Red Cross, during a
\nsimilar visit to the hospital, had the honor of naming twin baby
\nboys born after the quake. They were named Teguh and Tegar, which
\nmean \"strong\" and \"courageous\" respectively.<\/p>\n
The official death toll by yesterday afternoon remained at 80,
\nwith 737 listed as severely injured and another 1,520 lightly
\ninjured. Many of the injured people had been sent to hospitals in
\nJambi and Padang because of the limited facilities in
\nSungaipenuh.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was accompanied yesterday by Coordinating Minister
\nfor People's Welfare Azwar Anas, Minister of Social Services
\nInten Soeweno, Minister of People's Housing Akbar Tanjung,
\nMinister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar, Minister\/Cabinet
\nSecretary Saadilah Mursjid and Army Chief of Staff Gen. R.
\nHartono. Jambi Governor Abdurrahman Sayoeti and Kerinci Regent
\nChief Bambang Sukowinarno joined the entourage.<\/p>\n
Aryono Pusponegoro, the head of the medical team from the
\nMinistry of Health, explained to the guests from Jakarta that the
\nministry had put together the most complete team ever assembled.<\/p>\n
The medical team consists of doctors and paramedics from
\nvarious hospitals and institutions. Such a team is now ready on
\ncall any time, ready to be sent to any part of the country to
\ndeal with similar emergencies, Aryono said. The current team was
\nflown by an Air Force Hercules plane, he added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an official van yesterday toured the stricken
\nvillages to tell the people who were still living in makeshift
\ntents and temporary barracks that it was now safe for them to
\nreturn to their homes, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The decision was taken after a study conducted by a geological
\nteam from Jakarta ascertained that the likelihood of another
\npowerful quake was small, and that the aftershocks that had been
\nfelt since the first major blow had ebbed away.<\/p>\n
People whose homes were destroyed or partially destroyed,
\nhowever, were ordered to remain where they were.<\/p>\n
Doctors warned earlier that the conditions of the people
\nliving in tents could deteriorate because of constant exposure to
\ncold and rain.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile officials in Jakarta and Jambi were working to solve
\nthe problem of distributing the relief aid that has been sent to
\nJambi.<\/p>\n
The long distance to the quake-stricken areas, bad weather and
\npoor road conditions have hampered the relief operation, with
\nsome villages reporting that they were fast running out of food.<\/p>\n
\"Because of poor communications, we cannot monitor all the aid
\nrelief that we sent,\" Anwar Mansyur, an official in charge of
\ndispatching the relief aid in Jambi, told The Jakarta Post.
\n(rms\/anr)<\/p>",
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