A$1m pledged to help blast victims
A$1m pledged to help blast victims
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Australian government has pledged to provide medical
equipment and assistance worth A$1 million to help the recovery
of Bali bombing victims.
Of the $1 million donation, $250,000 would be in the form of
medical assistance, including a Portable Image Intensifier, a
device to locate shrapnel and metal particles in blast victims,
from Princess Alexandra Hospital in South Brisbane, said a press
statement on Wednesday from the Australian foreign ministry.
"The equipment is being flown from Brisbane to Bali and is due
to arrive on Wednesday at around 7 p.m.," Elizabeth
O'Neill, spokeswoman of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta told
The Jakarta Post.
The statement said Australian was looking to source more
equipment as well as to provide further essential medical
supplies and specialists' medical advice to Sanglah Hospital in
Denpasar and other treatment centers in Bali.
Another A$750,000 will be channeled to support local non-
governmental organizations meet the needs of the injured and to
provide financial support for families of the dead victims, it
said.
The ministry added the funding would be channeled through
AusAID, the Australian Agency for International Development.
"Prime Minister Howard and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
talked via phone on Sunday, just after the bombings. In that
conversation, PM Howard expressed Australia's willingness to
provide any kind of support that Indonesia may need," O'Neill
said.
"This support is to show that Indonesia is our close friend
and neighbor. When we see a partner in need we will help them."
The Australian government earlier sent a disaster
identification team and several federal police officers to help
the Indonesian police in investigating the Oct. 1 blasts, in
which 22 people were killed and more than 100 others injured.
The Australian government also evacuated five wounded victims
to hospitals in Singapore and 12 others to Darwin along with one
Indonesian and two Japanese nationals.
O'Neill said the blasts killed at least two Australians, while
two others are still missing.