French naval ships to arrive in Aceh with aid
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two French warships are scheduled to arrive on Friday in Aceh province to delivery humanitarian aid to the tsunami-battered town of Meulaboh, the French Embassy in Jakarta said on Thursday.
The Jeanne d'Arc and the frigate George Leygues are part of the assistance pledged by the French government to Indonesia, the most country most effected by the tsunami on Dec. 26, which killed more than 105,000 people in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces.
French Ambassador to Indonesia Renaud Vignal said the helicopter-carrier Jeanne d'Arc would bring six helicopters.
These helicopters will soon join a Puma helicopter currently stationed in Medan, North Sumatra, while four other French helicopters with 110 crew members are still on the way to Indonesia.
"With the presence of the Jeanne d'Arc tomorrow, we will have 11 helicopters that are going to be ready to do what the American helicopters have done," Vignal told reporters.
"So we will do the same job as the American helicopters. What we will do with our helicopters is transport aid to people who have no communication and no road or sea access."
He said the Jeanne d'Arc, which left Djibouti on Tuesday, would transport 640 crew members, five tons of medicine and 8,000 food rations.
The Jeanne d'Arc is also equipped with an emergency hospital with 18 doctors.
The coordinator for the French assistance to tsunami-hit countries, Vice Admiral Xavier Rolin, said the Jeanne d'Arc would also bring heavy equipment to help clean up the debris in Meulaboh.
He said his team would coordinate with Indonesian officials in Medan and Aceh on the work to be done in Meulaboh.
Rolin, the French commander of the Indian Ocean Maritime Zone, played down criticism that French military assistance was late in coming to Indonesia, and said its ships anchored off hard-hit Sumatra island would stay until foreign troops were asked to leave.
France has deployed a field hospital to Meulaboh and deployed from the Suez Canal two warships with 11 helicopters that were to be operational by Friday -- more than two weeks after the catastrophe.
The French arrived as fast as they could, said Rolin.
"We are not like the Americans with a large fleet in the Pacific," Rolin said.
"We can say we are late, but we were far away," he said. "We could not be in the first wave of assistance."
While addressing Indonesia's concerns over its national sovereignty, with international military forces pouring in to help, Vignal said France would work with the Indonesian government.
"We want to be at the disposal of the authorities of this country, whatever they decide," Vignal said, adding that significant work could be done within the time limit set by Indonesia for foreign militaries in the country. "There is a long way between the end of January and March."
Jakarta -- seeking more control over relief operations -- says foreign aid workers must have Indonesian Military escorts and wants foreign troops out of the country by March 26.
French has so far established an emergency hospital in Meulaboh with 40 medical and paramedical staff.
The French public and private contributions have reached US$360 million for tsunami victims in Asia and Africa.
For its part, the French government pledged $57 million in aid and contributed $105 million through the European Union for tsunami-affected countries.
The ambassador said that as of Jan. 10, his government had also transferred some $24 million from the pledged $57 million in aid through UN and international institutions.
The French have already deployed 80 percent of a promised 30 tons of food, medical equipment and water purification units.
The embassy said at least 18 French non-governmental organizations were now working in several areas of Aceh province.