Indonesia thankful for Irish assistance

INDONESIAN diplomats yesterday signalled their appreciation for Ireland’s “sympathy and assistance”.

The south-east Asian state’s London embassy, which handles the country’s relations with Ireland, issued a statement which said: “The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, as well as the Indonesian community residing in the United Kingdom and Ireland, deeply appreciate the outpouring of sympathy and offer of assistance extended by the government and people of the United Kingdom and the government and people of Ireland to alleviate the sufferings caused by the earthquake.”

Meanwhile, aid agencies revealed further details of their relief efforts.

Oxfam said its local teams are planning to set up water bladders and to truck water to the hospital in Bantul. They will also be distributing hygiene kits with soap, sanitary towels and sarongs.

“Luckily, the contingency planning we’d been doing for a possible eruption of the Merapi volcano has meant we have immediate access to these stocks of equipment stored locally,” said Oxfam’s David MacDonald.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s aid agencies said they were stepping up their operations in the affected area.

Concern said that senior staff members who had been working in nearby Sumatra have already started assessing the needs of the displaced communities.

GOAL has sent an assessment team from its base in Columbo, Sri Lanka, to Java, to decide on which form the agency’s intervention will take.

Meanwhile, GOAL and Trócaire have pledged €100,000 and €150,000 respectively for relief efforts.

The Irish Red Cross has sent €50,000 to aid the organisation’s emergency response units and volunteers operating in the area.