Susilo joins prayers with quake survivors
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Gunung Sitoli
Three days after the 8.7-magnitude earthquake killed hundreds of people in Nias and two other islands in northern Sumatra, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited the ravaged areas and talked to survivors.
Braving heavy rain, he joined prayers for the victims outside a damaged Catholic church in Gunung Sitoli, the capital city of Nias, on Thursday.
"We are here to help, we will repair everything, have patience," Susilo was quoted by AFP as telling a woman after the service in which prayers were said for the 25 dead, whose bodies were lined up in front of the church's broken bell tower.
He conveyed his sympathy and solidarity for the victims, although he said the giant quake was not a national disaster, unlike the Dec. 26 catastrophe that left some 230,000 people dead or missing and feared dead in Aceh and North Sumatra.
Susilo along with his entourage, including First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, ministers and senior government officials spent several hours surveying several parts of Nias, embracing and talking to survivors and promising to help those who lost their homes in Monday's calamity.
More than 500 people were confirmed dead by Thursday afternoon on the stricken islands of Nias, Banyak and Semeulue, and some 400 others were believed to have been trapped in rubble.
Residents desperately trying to find their missing family members were seen removing corpses with their bare hands, while the rescue work and evacuation efforts were still moving slowly due to the lack of volunteers and equipment.
The President suspended his Australian trip scheduled for Tuesday to visit Nias.
"Today we, along with our leader, the President, surrender to you God, our brothers and sisters who have passed away," said 46- year-old school teacher Linus Zebua, who led the Christian service.
Susilo, a retired Army general and a Muslim, later visited a mosque and toured a military field hospital.
Though Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, the people of Nias are mostly Christians. However, Muslims and Chinese- Indonesian Buddhists coexist peacefully on the island of 700,000 people.
Susilo ordered North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin to coordinate with the local administrations in Nias in conducting recovery and relief operations, since the disaster was not as terrible as the calamity just three months ago.
"Nias and South Nias regental administrations have the capability to conduct humanitarian efforts, so the task should be done by the North Sumatra provincial government," he said.
He said the local administrations should focus on the evacuation of victims, distribution of relief supplies, fuel and power during the emergency relief operation.
Several ministers promised to dispatch food, medical relief and heavy equipment to support the relief and recovery efforts.
Many foreign countries, including the United States, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, are sending emergency relief aid to Nias as an expression of solidarity for Indonesia.