Neighbors among the first on the scene

Neighbors among the first on the scene

Riyadi Suparno and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

"We live here just like the refugees," head of the humanitarian
task force for the Singaporean Armed Forces in Banda Aceh, Lt.
Col. Tay Boon Khai quipped.

He was telling the truth. The young commandant sleeps in a
tent on wet ground, in the Singaporean base camp at the
Indonesian Military air base compound here.

Among the first foreign nationals to arrive in the capital
Banda Aceh just two days after the earthquake and tidal waves
that leveled many parts of Aceh, the Singaporean relief task
force brought less publicity but crucial help to ease the ordeal
faced by the victims and the relief organizations distributing
aid to remote, affected areas.

It was Singapore's defense forces chief, who made a call to
his Indonesian counterpart offering help and deployed six
Chinooks and two Superpuma helicopters plus two vessels off
Meulaboh, an emergency response operation manned by almost 1,000
personnel including medics, air ground crew and sailors operating
in Banda Aceh, Meulaboh and Medan.

The task force was the first to lower the country's flag to
half-mast in the base camp as a demonstration of solidarity and
condolences, which was soon followed by other foreign military
forces also camped in the air base compound.

The force was the first to get into Meulaboh to rehabilitate
the airstrip, enabling helicopters to land, and also the one that
brought in a mobile control tower for the Banda Aceh air base.

When a cargo plane skidded and blockaded the airstrip after
hitting a buffalo, it was Singapore's heavy equipment --
airlifted directly from the country -- that cleared the air base
and ended the over 12-hour stoppage of flights into and out of
Banda Aceh.

"Singapore is a small country, but we're here to help in
whatever way we can ... to make a difference. We will stay as
long as the Indonesian government needs us," Tay told The Jakarta
Post here.

Besides the military, Singapore also deployed its Civil
Defense Force's rescue team.

Contingent commander Lt. Col. Yazid Abdullah said the team
arrived on Dec. 28, two days after the calamity. They have
managed to evacuate 96 people.

"Toward the end of our operation, we helped out at the relief
centers in Mataie, working together with Singapore's medical team
there, helping in the field hospitals ... We are going back home
today," he told the Post on Wednesday.

Like Singapore, Malaysia didn't wait for a long-distance phone
call before deploying its emergency assistance to Aceh.

Head of the team, Nadzri Siron, who coordinates the country's
military, rescue team, civilian relief organizations and
journalists entering Aceh, said they had focussed on clearing the
town from the scattered rubble and flotsam.

"We helped the police to clean up their armistice buried in
the mud brought by the tidal waves ... We have brought bulldozers
to clear the area after the evacuation of the corpses," the
director of the Emergency Task Force for Selangor state
explained.

With their two helicopters, Malaysia previously handled the
aid distribution to Meulaboh and established a medical clinic
there until all coordination for air transportation was placed
under the United Nations agencies represented there on Wednesday.

As Tay said, the neighboring countries might not bring much in
terms of relief supplies, but the most important thing is
"neighboring countries can help, and must help".