SINGAPORE : Singapore will open its air and naval bases to
anyone who is bringing in supplies for the relief efforts in the
region.
Singapore's Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said his Indonesian
counterpart's told him that airports in Medan and Banda Aceh are
overstretched.
The bases in Singapore will be used as additional staging and
logistics points, and already Singapore has been sending aid to
Indonesia's most badly-affected areas.
Chinooks have already brought relief supplies to Maloubu, the worst
hit area in Aceh.
A medical team from Singapore's armed forces flew into the area on
Thursday, and ferried whole families out.
Singapore, which was mostly unaffected by the tsunamis, has been
offering aid to Indonesia and the rest of the region.
Over 12,000 pounds of food relief is already reaching
Maloubu.
Four to six C-130 planes are operating between Singapore and
Indonesia to bring relief to the disaster area.
Mr Teo has been in constant touch with his Indonesian
counterpart.
He found out that the airport in Banda Aceh suffered serious damage
- hence it is opening up Singapore's facilities.
Mr Teo said: "I understand that the control tower is operating out
of a tent. I told the Minister Yuwono, Singapore is opening up our
air bases and our naval base for anyone who is bringing relief
supplies to this area so that they can use that as an additional
staging and logistics point to bring humanitarian supplies and aid
to that part of Indonesia.
"We have contacted the Australians, French, Japanese as well as the
Americans who have expressed some interest in making use of
this.
"For example, they may want to bring heavy lift supplies, heavy
lift aeroplanes and ships, and break bulk here and transport them
through smaller aircraft which will then have greater access into
different more remote parts of Sumatra more easily. That is one
possible way of working."
On Friday, some 500 personnel and equipment left Tuas Naval Base in
Singapore for the western Sumatra region.
The men from the RSS Endurance were told on Tuesday that the
Landing Ship Tank would set sail for Indonesia.
Since then, they have been working round the clock to get the
6,000-tonne ship ready.
The landing ship tank RSS Endurance has been stocked up with a
whole range of engineering and medical equipment.
It will take about two days to reach its destination in western
Sumatra and once the SAF team reaches there, it will work closely
with their Indonesian counterparts to provide a whole range of
services, among them helping to clear roads and debris, and
providing primary healthcare services."
Mr Teo said: "If we go into an area, or receive a warning about
seismic activity, we will limit our exposure on the ground. These
are the basic precautions our people will take.
"It is known that after a major earthquake there are
aftershocks...you just have to work with it and accept that
risk."
Dr Low Cheng Ooi, SAF Relief Mission to Indonesia, said: "Things we
are expecting in the area where we are going to work are things
like water-borne diseases and post-trauma cases related to
earthquake.
"We have the means to treat all these patients, we have the means
to help identify what the diseases, we have the means to treat them
and we have the capability to perform surgery on the field."
The teams received all their innoculations and have been well
briefed about the hygiene precautions to take. - CNA