Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel – The Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) said the Indonesian Government provided humanitarian assistance to the State of Vanuatu.
The provision of this assistance is a form of humanitarian support to the country in the South Pacific which was hit by the earthquake and storm disaster. President Joko Widodo has approved the provision of humanitarian assistance to Vanuatu.
“Therefore, the president instructed me to follow up on the provision of this assistance,” Muhadjir said as quoted by InfoPublik on Thursday (4/5/2023).
It is planned that the Indonesian government will send humanitarian aid in the form of assistance worth Rp10 billion to repair the VVIP room at Port Villa Airport, Vanuatu’s capital city.
In addition, Head of BNPB Lieutenant General Suharyanto explained that Indonesia also sent 34.7 tons of basic needs logistics assistance consisting of 11 types of goods with a value range of Rp 7.2 billion.
“The logistical assistance that we will send includes basic food packages in the form of milk, rice, sugar, biscuits, ready meals, and instant noodles,” Suharyanto said.
Vanuatu declared a state of emergency following the earthquake and cyclone. Reportedly, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake shook the country on Friday (3/3/2023), a day after Cyclone Judy hit.
The category four storm triggered damage and flooding across almost all of the country’s 83 islands. Amidst the situation, locals are now facing another major tropical storm, Typhoon Kevin.
Around 5,000 people have reportedly been evacuated, while Typhoon Kevin, a category three storm, is packing winds of up to 130 km/h (81 mph). No casualties have been reported so far.
However, as a result of the disaster almost all of Vanuatu’s citizens, around 300,000 people, were affected. Losses are estimated at US$50 million.
The aid is planned to depart on May 8, 2023 through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport with My Indo Airline B737-800 Cargo aircraft.
The Indonesian government also sent a Humanitarian Team of 14 representatives from the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, BNPB, and BIN using Garuda B737-800 aircraft.
Indonesia and Vanuatu are partners in a multilateral organization of Pacific countries. Namely the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). (InfoPublik/Kemenko PMK)
