Effect of The 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake On Indonesia - Relief Efforts

Relief Efforts

Although Indonesia was the first and worst hit of countries in the region, it was the last to begin receiving relief aid. Two large aftershocks on Wednesday caused many residents, traumatised by their experience, to flee from the coast. Looting of food was reported throughout this northmost province of Sumatra as aid has proved slow to arrive.

Fifteen thousand troops, who were in the region to fight the insurgency, were dispatched to render assistance and to search for survivors. However, many soldiers and their families were themselves killed. Three days of national mourning were declared. The Indonesian government declared the local provincial Acehnese government as totally crippled (many local politicians based in Banda Aceh were killed when the tsunami struck the city) and declared that all administrative control would be handled directly from Jakarta.

The unmanageably high number of corpses strewn all over the cities and countrysides, limited resources and time for identifying bodies, and the very real threat of cholera, diphtheria and other diseases prompted emergency workers to create makeshift mass graves. One of the most urgently required supplies were body bags.

There were significant bottlenecks created by lack of infrastructure and red tape. The United Nation's Children's Fund reported on Thursday that aid for 200,000 people, including medical supplies, soap and tarpaulin, was being held at Jakarta for a day to clear customs. The US consul in Medan in southern Sumatra reported that aid there was piling up at the airports of Medan and Banda Aceh because there were not enough trucks to transport it. 11 days after the disaster and few foreign relief workers or supplies have reached the local people in local centres such as Meulaboh, Aceh.

In the immediate aftermath, one of the most pressing concerns was the inability to distribute sufficient aid due to a lack of accessible roads and a shortage of available helicopters. What little aid has reached the remote regions of Aceh province is trickling in primarily by boat and air.

While the airfield outside Banda Aceh was functioning, most of the other small gravel airfields were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami. In the first days only two airfields were functioning in the province. As most of the few roads in the region were on the coast because of the rugged interior, much of the transport infrastructure was damaged or destroyed. Helicopters and Indonesian navy ships off the coast supplied a small amount of aid.

At 2.30 am on 4 January 2005 at Banda Aceh airport a heavy cargo plane as it landed hit a water buffalo which had strayed onto the runway. The left side of the plane's undercarriage collapsed, making the plane un-movable blocking the runway for a big part of that day, except for helicopters, until some specialists came from Singapore to put a temporary support under that part of the plane, and men moved the plane off the runway.

Four planes carrying aid were sent by Australia and one from the US carrying an evaluation team. An Australian ship carrying helicopters set sail, but did not reach Sumatra until 14 January 2005. A US Navy aircraft carrier battle group centred on USS Abraham Lincoln, dispatched to assist Aceh, began ferrying small amounts of supplies to the remnants of small coastal communities. The US relief operation is based at the Thai base of Utapao.

In Aceh some elephants from a wildlife park were used to move debris. (Elephants were also used in Thailand).