UN steps up reinforcement

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

The United Nations (UN) is stepping up its reinforcement efforts in response to possible problems that may arise from the scaling back of foreign military personnel and equipment in tsunami- stricken Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, and is calling on civilians to help fill the gap.

The UN's deputy coordinator for humanitarian operations in Sumatra, Joel Boutroue, said here on Monday that the UN would send in more helicopters and increase cooperation with the government to find solutions to transportation and distribution problems, especially in isolated areas on the western coast.

"We have more civilian helicopters coming. We already have ten (at the moment) and one or two more in the pipeline. We may go up to 15 if need be. We believe that with up to 15 helicopters we should be able to service those population pockets that cannot be accessed by other means," he said.

Boutroue said that the United Nations' Joint Logistics Center was also coordinating with the outgoing military forces and laying out plans for a smooth transition from military to non- military assets.

"There will still be a need for helicopters to reach isolated areas, although it will not be on a scale as large as we previously had. At the same time, we're working with international forces to reduce dependency on the helicopters before they withdraw. For example, we can now get to Meulaboh by ship," he said.

Helicopters have been critical in accelerating relief efforts to isolated areas that cannot be reached by land transport.

Boutroue said the Indonesian government should also maximize the deployment of civilians, including locals, at all levels to make sure that they were also a part of the relief process.

Singapore and Malaysia have started to withdraw their military personnel and equipment from Aceh, while the U.S. is also preparing for a scaling down of its military humanitarian operation in the province.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Alwi Shihab, who oversees the humanitarian relief operation in Aceh, said that the emergency situation in tsunami-ravaged areas was almost over and that it was logical for the foreign military personnel to leave and to empower civilians instead.

The World Food Program, which on Sunday sent its first ship to deliver tons of food to Calang, in Aceh Jaya, said it would get more helicopters to anticipate the gap left by the departing militaries.

In another development, Boutroue said that rehabilitation programs for refugees should start focusing more on the nutritional diversification of food baskets, and upon the improvement of sanitation and water issues.

A recent quick assessment by the UN in a number of refugee camps around Banda Aceh revealed that around 13 percent of children aged under five were currently malnourished due to the limited variety of food in the baskets.

"The percentage is slightly higher than the national rate of some 9 percent. While it's not overly worrying, we believe there's still an urgent need to diversify the food baskets, and to address the sanitation and water situation as well, because if you have already reached the borderline level of malnutrition, it can (lead to the) outbreak of diseases," warned Boutroue.

He said that the limited types of food was due to limited stocks in many donor countries available at the time of the disaster, but added that other types of food were now ready to be distributed to the refugees.

Meanwhile, troops from Japan's largest military deployment since World War II arrived here on Monday to help tsunami victims, and also to help improve Japan's own image in a region wary of its past aggression.

AFP reported that three Japanese navy ships carrying 950 Self- Defense Force personnel have dropped anchor off Aceh.

"We still see a need for the deployment of the mission, especially for work in areas such as sanitation and preventing diseases," a spokesman of the Japanese Embassy said.