Members of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) prepare to exhibit their equipment on Thursday before attending the departure ceremony for Indonesia's humanitarian aid mission to Myanmar following the earthquake, at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta. - Photo: AFP
JAKARTA: Indonesia on Thursday (April 3) dispatched some 100 tonnes of aid, including medicines, sanitation tools and other basic needs, to disaster-stricken Myanmar, alongside another search and rescue team consisting of 69 personnel.
The aid was sent under President Prabowo Subianto’s directive as a form of “solidarity from the people of Indonesia”, said Foreign Minister Sugiono at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta.
“On the 28th of March, Myanmar was hit by an earthquake. As the security and political situation in Myanmar continues to be unconducive, the number of victims and the amount of damages continue to grow,” Sugiono said.
“We hope that all of our contributions and participation can provide goodness, and that our activities can lighten the burden of our brothers and sisters who are experiencing the disaster,” he continued.
According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, the total assistance given by Indonesia stands at 124 tonnes, 20 tonnes of which already arrived in Myanmar on Monday.
Worth US$1.2 million, 64 tonnes of the assistance were collected from the private sector, while the remaining 60 tonnes were contributed by the government.
Death tolls in Myanmar have surpassed 3,000 people on Thursday as last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake continues to cause extensive damage in the country, with rescuers still pulling bodies from toppled buildings and collapsed roads.
Various local reports suggest that the number of fatalities will only continue to rise in the coming days.
The Myanmar military government, which has been isolated by the international community since 2021 after its illegal putsch of Naypyidaw’s democratic government, made a rare call for foreign assistance last week to help the country recover from the deadly disaster.
Shortly after an Asean foreign ministers’ emergency meeting on the Myanmar earthquake over the weekend, Indonesia pledged its readiness to send assistance to Naypyidaw, with President Prabowo taking to social media to announce that Jakarta would provide “all necessary support for recovery efforts in the affected areas”.
Sugiono said on Thursday that the Asean meeting concluded that Myanmar “is in urgent need of shelter, medical equipment and medicines” and that therefore the aid from Indonesia “will fulfill those needs”.
Around 150 Indonesian rescuers and medical workers have been dispatched to Myanmar in batches as of Thursday.
More than half of them have been helping the relief efforts in Naypyidaw since earlier this week.
A team of rescuers found and evacuated three bodies under the rubble of an apartment in the Thukha Theiddhi Ward area on Wednesday, according to the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).
A slew of countries have responded to Myanmar’s call for help, including Asean countries, as well as India, China, Russia and the United States which has pledged $2 million in aid.
With the dire situation in Myanmar, the ruling military junta on Wednesday declared a ceasefire until April 22, sending a warning to rebel groups to refrain from attacking the state or risk facing “necessary” measures.
Since the 2021 coup d’etat, Myanmar has seen a volatile political and security landscape as dozens of armed resistance groups continue to resist the junta’s rule.
Asean, which has attempted to facilitate peace dialogues between warring factions in the country, has largely failed to assert its peace-led solution the Five Point Consensus (5PC) that calls for immediate ceasefire and constructive dialogue. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
