Indonesia open to international aid after deadly earthquakes, tsunami
Country prioritises assistance in much-needed areas after learning from mistakes handling aid after 2004 Aceh tsunami
The confirmed death toll has reached 844 people, a number the BNPB said was likely to rise significantly as many victims remained trapped under rubble or mud, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
Due to the magnitude of the disaster, President Joko Widodo has instructed Indonesia’s foreign ministry to start coordinating international aid from the likes of China, Australia, the United States and the European Union.
“We have learned our lesson from the Aceh tsunami in 2004 that, regarding international help, we have to be selective and only accept aid that we actually need,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said at a news conference. “We need to select the countries based on their capacity to help us.”
During the Aceh tsunami, Indonesia accepted an unprecedented US$6 billion worth of donations from 117 countries, but analysts said the money ended up increasing socioeconomic inequality in the area due to a lack of experience and regulation relating to international aid – for instance, only some communities received high-quality housing.
For now, the country is prioritising tents, water treatment equipment, generator sets, field hospitals, medical staff, and aerial vehicles that can land on 2000-metre runways.
The BNPB estimates that Central Sulawesi suffered damage running into more than 10 trillion rupiah (US$670.56 million), more than that incurred from the recent Lombok quakes.
