Two French naval ships carrying aid, choppers arrive in Aceh
Two French naval ships carrying aid, choppers arrive in Aceh
Adianto P. Simamora
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Two French warships are scheduled to arrive on Friday in Aceh
province to delivery humanitarian aid to the tsunami-battered
town of Meulaboh, the French Embassy in Jakarta said on Thursday.
The Jeanne d'Arc and the frigate George Leygues are part of
the assistance pledged by the French government to Indonesia, the
most country most effected by the tsunami on Dec. 26, which
killed more than 105,000 people in Aceh and North Sumatra
provinces.
French Ambassador to Indonesia Renaud Vignal said the
helicopter-carrier Jeanne d'Arc would bring six helicopters.
These helicopters will soon join a Puma helicopter currently
stationed in Medan, North Sumatra, while four other French
helicopters with 110 crew members are still on the way to
Indonesia.
"With the presence of the Jeanne d'Arc tomorrow, we will have
11 helicopters that are going to be ready to do what the American
helicopters have done," Vignal told reporters.
"So we will do the same job as the American helicopters. What
we will do with our helicopters is transport aid to people who
have no communication and no road or sea access."
He said the Jeanne d'Arc, which left Djibouti on Tuesday,
would transport 640 crew members, five tons of medicine and 8,000
food rations.
The Jeanne d'Arc is also equipped with an emergency hospital
with 18 doctors.
The coordinator for the French assistance to tsunami-hit
countries, Vice Admiral Xavier Rolin, said the Jeanne d'Arc would
also bring heavy equipment to help clean up the debris in
Meulaboh.
He said his team would coordinate with Indonesian officials in
Medan and Aceh on the work to be done in Meulaboh.
Rolin, the French commander of the Indian Ocean Maritime Zone,
played down criticism that French military assistance was late in
coming to Indonesia, and said its ships anchored off hard-hit
Sumatra island would stay until foreign troops were asked to
leave.
France has deployed a field hospital to Meulaboh and deployed
from the Suez Canal two warships with 11 helicopters that were to
be operational by Friday -- more than two weeks after the
catastrophe.
The French arrived as fast as they could, said Rolin.
"We are not like the Americans with a large fleet in the
Pacific," Rolin said.
"We can say we are late, but we were far away," he said. "We
could not be in the first wave of assistance."
While addressing Indonesia's concerns over its national
sovereignty, with international military forces pouring in to
help, Vignal said France would work with the Indonesian
government.
"We want to be at the disposal of the authorities of this
country, whatever they decide," Vignal said, adding that
significant work could be done within the time limit set by
Indonesia for foreign militaries in the country. "There is a long
way between the end of January and March."
Jakarta -- seeking more control over relief operations -- says
foreign aid workers must have Indonesian Military escorts and
wants foreign troops out of the country by March 26.
French has so far established an emergency hospital in
Meulaboh with 40 medical and paramedical staff.
The French public and private contributions have reached
US$360 million for tsunami victims in Asia and Africa.
For its part, the French government pledged $57 million in aid
and contributed $105 million through the European Union for
tsunami-affected countries.
The ambassador said that as of Jan. 10, his government had
also transferred some $24 million from the pledged $57 million in
aid through UN and international institutions.
The French have already deployed 80 percent of a promised 30
tons of food, medical equipment and water purification units.
The embassy said at least 18 French non-governmental
organizations were now working in several areas of Aceh province.