Land Transport Directorate Optimises Ferry Services to Aid Post-Earthquake Relief in NTT
The Directorate General of Land Transportation (Ditjen Hubdat) of the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) continues to optimise ferry services, in addition to pioneer buses, to distribute logistical aid for post-disaster handling following the earthquake that struck East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) some time ago.
“Today, via KMP Ile Ape, we transported two units of heavy excavator equipment to assist in the evacuation of material resulting from the earthquake disaster in the Palue area of Sikka Regency, NTT. In addition, the vessel also carried passengers including members of the Sikka Police and five doctors,” said Director General of Land Transportation Aan Suhanan in an official statement in Jakarta on Wednesday (19/8).
He said the delivery of heavy equipment via ferry is expected to clear landslide material covering road surfaces caused by the earthquake, thereby opening access and connectivity between isolated areas.
In this regard, the Directorate General of Land Transportation, through the Class II NTT Land Transportation Management Centre, has deployed pioneer buses to distribute aid and open road access as well as ferry crossings.
“We continue to strive to serve vital pioneer ferry crossings for Ende Regency and support mobility and the distribution of aid/logistics following the disaster,” he explained.
In addition, his office continues to coordinate and collaborate with various relevant parties in handling the Trans Flores road, which had previously experienced total disruption. However, based on the results of monitoring and field verification, the road can now be accessed again so that logistics distribution can proceed.
“On this occasion, the Ministry of Transportation also distributed basic necessities to affected communities at the Gelora Samador Maumere evacuation post,” Aan added.
The basic necessities distributed included hundreds of packages of five-kilogramme rice, canned food, as well as hundreds of cartons of instant noodles and 1.5-litre mineral water.
Aan expressed hope that land transport facilities and infrastructure can continue to be optimised to accelerate the handling of disaster-affected areas and speed up the distribution of aid or logistics for victims.