PMI ready to channel aid from NGOs
PMI ready to channel aid from NGOs
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) is bracing for an increased
workload as humanitarian assistance from international non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) continues to pour into Aceh.
Following the government's decision not to give access to
foreign NGOs to the war-torn province, PMI is the only local
private institution through which they can deliver their aid.
"However, considering our principles of independence,
neutrality and impartiality we do not have any intention to
coordinate with foreign organizations," PMI said in a statement
on Thursday.
PMI, it said, would distribute the assistance based on its own
judgment and assessment of what people in the province needed.
A PMI official said that the decision was taken due to the
organization's limited capacity to conduct such activities.
"There are no ulterior reasons, it is simply because we do not
have the capacity to coordinate this and it is actually the job
of the government," the official, who refused to be named, said.
Government has refused access to the international community
to directly deliver humanitarian relief to Aceh, saying it cannot
guarantee the safety of foreign workers in the war zone. The
government also worries about "hidden motives" behind the
foreigners' humanitarian mission, fearing Aceh could become an
international issue.
Jakarta has maintained that all foreign assistance should be
channeled through the government, Aceh administration or PMI,
which has 18 offices across Aceh and hundreds of volunteers.
PMI has so far provided medicine, hygiene kits and other
medical necessities for people in the province. It is being
supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
PMI has also distributed 10,000 tons of rice from the World
Food Programme (WFP) to the province.
It complained on Thursday about the dwindling supply of blood
needed to cope with the demand for between 20 packs and 30 packs
daily.
"We may not have sufficient supplies of blood for the
increasing number of victims as the conflict escalates," PMI Aceh
spokesman Riya Ison said as quoted by Antara.
PMI called on local people to donate blood to help ease the
problem.
Meanwhile, aid continued to flow into the province as the war
entered its second week.
On Wednesday, the Indonesian Air Force sent two Hercules
aircraft to the province, carrying 3.2 tons of medical supplies
from the health ministry and Indonesian Military (TNI)
headquarters.
The planes also carried two ambulances and military vehicles
to support the humanitarian operation.
Late on Tuesday, three tons of medical supplies from the World
Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef)
along with their international workers arrived in Aceh. Another
17 tons of emergency supplies are expected within days.
Waiting for the additional supplies to be flown in, Aceh's
deputy governor Azwar Abubakar said he had no objection to the
presence of Unicef and WHO foreign officials with him at the
airport in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.
"How can we not be happy with people who empathize with us?"
Azwar said as quoted by Reuters.
The chief of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jakarta, Michael Elmquist, said UN
agencies and international NGOs had agreed to remain in Banda
Aceh and not travel outside the city for security reasons.
Meanwhile the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs
Association pledged to send medicine and other medical supplies
to Aceh.
"We will support the humanitarian operation and will
immediately arrange our medical aid package," the association
deputy chairman Kendra Riadi told Antara on Thursday.