Relief aid still stranded in sea port

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Hundreds of containers of humanitarian relief aid are still stranded in Belawan port in North Sumatra despite central government instructions that all of them be taken immediately to tsunami and earthquake victims in Aceh and Nias island.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla who heads the national coordination body in charge of dealing with the disasters, last week instructed Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie to provide financial assistance to transport the aid so that it could be distributed without having to wait for permits from the Ministry of Trade.

However, a week after the minister's visit, only 100 of the 1,458 containers of relief aid comprising food, clothes and medical supplies had been sent to Aceh and Nias.

Head of the investigation and preventive section at the Belawan port customs office, Cerah Bangun, said on Saturday the distribution was still facing transportation and permit problems.

He said that most of the remaining containers, apart from 400, had already been cleared of permit problems.

"We wonder why the distribution of the relief aid is so slow even though the government has provided a big budget for transportation. Moreover, we're also questioning the seriousness of the Ministry of Trade for not issuing import permits for this relief aid, which goes against the central government's policy," Cerah told The Jakarta Post in Belawan.

During his visit to Belawan, Aburizal said the Vice President had provided Rp 2 billion to the North Sumatra governor to ensure speedy distribution of the containers that were piling up at the port.

He was given an assurance that the relief aid, which could not be distributed due to the absence of permits from the Ministry of Trade, could be shipped out without having to wait for permits, with the exception of vehicles.

Cerah said that of the 117 vehicles sent as humanitarian relief aid from abroad, several units had already been sent to Aceh after Aburizal's visit.

"Some vehicles were sent to Aceh without waiting for Ministry of Trade permits because they're very badly needed," he said, adding that among the vehicles were 15 ambulances, garbage trucks and bulldozers.

Head of the Ministry of Trade's office in North Sumatra, T. Azwar Aziz, denied the permit problems, saying that all of the relief aid, excluding vehicles, could now be shipped out of the port.

"There was a joint agreement made that was approved by the Ministry of Trade when Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie gave an instruction to ship the relief aid to disaster areas," Aziz told the Post.