German FM monitors aid delivery in Aceh
German FM monitors aid delivery in Aceh
Agence France-Presse, Banda Aceh
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany, one of the biggest donor countries to regions ravaged by the tsunami catastrophe, arrived in the stricken Indonesian province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam on Friday for a one-day visit.
Fischer was to meet Indonesian Minister of Transportation Hatta Rajasa and German aid workers in the capital city of Banda Aceh and view the main hospital and provisional shelters to assess the impact of Berlin's assistance.
Germany has pledged 500 million euros (US$640 million) in aid over the next three to five years to areas battered by the tsunami, making it one of the world's most generous countries in the global relief and reconstruction effort.
The German public has donated about the same amount again since the Dec. 26 catastrophe, which claimed more than 285,000 lives in 11 countries. Hundreds of German tourists are missing and presumed dead.
Although the some 360 German troops in Aceh have been a welcome presence, the aid effort has been marred by accusations by private aid organizations, including the German Red Cross, that the military has poorly coordinated the operation.
Aceh bore the brunt of the killer sea surges, wiping out many coastal villages and leaving more than 231,000 people dead or missing, and some 400,000 homeless.
The German military has anchored a supply ship, the Berlin, off the coast of Aceh equipped with a full-service clinic and two water treatment systems and set up a medical unit in the city of Banda Aceh.
Germany has also established the Bakoy temporary shelter with its Technical Reconstruction Agency.
Indonesia has also expressed interest in a 45-million-euro tsunami warning system developed by Germany that Berlin may donate as part of its aid package.
Fischer's visit to Aceh comes at the end of a long-planned nine-day tour that also took him to Australia, New Zealand, East Timor and Malaysia. He flew back to Berlin later on the day.