"Second airport opens as U.N. teams move inland to help tsunami survivors in Indonesia"

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Second airport opens as U.N. teams move inland to help survivors in
Indonesia
The Associated Press


PATAK, Indonesia - The flow of relief supplies into northern Sumatra was
expected to double with the opening of a second airport Sunday, as United
Nations teams moved deeper into the interior to assess the plight of
villagers who had fled the tsunami-devastated coastline.

The damaged airfield at Sabang Island, just off the northern tip of Sumatra,
was back in operation with military C-130 transports from several nations
scheduled to arrive in the coming days, said a U.S. Navy spokesman, Lt.
Cmdr. John Bernard.

"We can double our aid intake into the country," Bernard said. The airport
at Banda Aceh, the hub of the international aid effort, has become congested
over the past two weeks with transport craft and U.S. military helicopters
which rush the aid to the western coastline of Sumatra.

U.N. teams, assessing the state of survivors along the coast, were pushing
as deep as 19 kilometers (12 miles) into the interior to locate and
determine the needs of displaced people, said Rob Holden of the U.N. World
Health Organization.

"We have to insure that those who survived continue to survive," he said.

"There is still significant risk to health. People are still drinking dirty
water. There is a malaria threat. But to date we've had no disease
outbreak," said Holden, who heads a 40-member health assessment team of
experts from the United Nations, Indonesian government, U.S. military and
non-governmental agencies.

Maintaining a steady flow of relief supplies and preventing outbreaks of
disease were key priorities, he said.

A massive earthquake off Sumatra three weeks ago spawned a tsunami that
killed more than 162,000 people in 11 countries, including more than 115,000
in Indonesia, most on the island of Sumatra.

After 16 days of deliveries, the helicopters, which can only provide limited
quantities of relief supplies, are still being rushed by villagers in
Indonesia. A group of men crowded the open door of one helicopter which
Sunday landed in the ruined coastal community of Patak, 72 kilometers (45
miles) south of Banda Aceh.

One old man ignored orders of the crewmen to back away from the craft,
begging for more cartons of milk and instant noodles.

Bernard said U.S. Navy and Marine helicopters will have delivered 1.4
million kilograms (3 million pounds) of aid into the hands of survivors in
coming days. As of Saturday, the helicopters had flown 955 missions.

"We're really rolling," he said.

Bernard said fewer injured and gravely sick people were being evacuated to
Banda Aceh by the helicopters. "Other than people we brought in, they either
lived or died," he said.

The U.N. team is based on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the lead
U.S. Navy vessel in the operation. Each day they are flown to eight
different sites along a 272-kilometer (170-mile) stretch of the coastline
which took the brunt of the tsunami.

"We still need military air assets. They played an absolutely key role, but
helicopters are not the answer here," Holden said. "Land access is
essential. That we have to establish."

A road hugging the coastline, the only access by land to the destroyed
communities, has been all but wiped out, with 58 bridges washed away or
crippled by the violent waters, Holden said.

He said the U.N. team, which began its work Friday, has been given full
cooperation from the Indonesian government and military, and has not
encountered any of the rebels who have been fighting for independence from
the central government for years.

"We are acutely aware of the security situation in this area, but our team
has been well-received. We are cautious, but we have never felt threatened
in any way," Holden said.

The U.N. official praised cooperation between foreign military units and
civilian aid organizations.

"There are often tensions between the military and humanitarian groups, and
there are times when working together is not appropriate," he said. "But
there are times and places where the military and NGOs can work together. We
proved it here."

Along with the Americans and Indonesians, military contingents from
Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand, Germany, Pakistan and other countries
are taking part in the relief operation.

The Japanese were the latest to arrive, and Bernard said their helicopters
would follow them in about 10 days.


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