Caritas Indonesia faces big challenge in reaching disaster survivors
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| A survivor of Indonesia's earthquake and tsunami at a makeshift camp in Palu.- AFP |
In an interview, Fr. Banu Kurniatanto, Director of Caritas
Indonesia, spoke about plans to reach the survivors of the devastating
earthquake and tsunami that hit the Central Sulawesi Province on September 28.
By Robin Gomes
Uncertainty was written large on the faces of people living
in tents and shelters on Thursday, 6 days after a powerful earthquake and
tsunami hit the Central Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. 1,424 have
been confirmed dead and more than 70,000 people
have been displaced from their homes since the September 28
disaster.
Relief efforts have been hampered by extensive damage to
infrastructure cutting off many remote areas.
Caritas Indonesia, the social arm of the Catholic Bishops’
Conference of Indonesia (KWI), has swung into action since the
disaster struck the region. Fr. Banu Kurnianto, the
Director of Caritas Indonesia who has arrived in Makassar Archdiocese
explained to Vatican News about the Catholic Church’s relief efforts.
He said that of the country’s 37 dioceses, Manado
Diocese and Makassar Archdiocese, that are closest to the disaster region
that includes Palu city, were among the first to respond. Even
though Central Sulawesi and Palu come under the jurisdiction
of Manado, they are closer to Makassar. Fr. Kurniantio said both the
dioceses are coordinating the Caritas response.
Damaged infrastructure
With essential services such as roads, communication, power
and fuel “heavily damaged”, Fr. Kurnianto said it is a great challenge to
quickly reach the affected areas. For an effective emergency
strategy and response, Caritas Indonesia needs to have a clear picture of the ground
situation. In some places, he said, they are trying to make it on
foot.
Fr. Kurnianto said the basic needs of the people are food,
water, nutrition, shelter, tarpaulin, blankets and medicine, which Manado
and Makassar dioceses are trying to coordinate.
Makassar-Manado partnership
The director of Caritas said that Makassar Archdiocese
has assumed the responsibility of procuring relief materials and delivering
them to Mamuju city, which is closest to Palu,
some 15 hours by road. The Caritas field team in Mamuju will re-package the aid
and deliver it to Palu, some 5-hour drive away.
In Palu, Manado Diocese will help in
distributing the aid material to the affected areas in and around the city.
Caritas Internationalis
Fr. Kurniato expressed his appreciation to Caritas
Internationalis for its solidarity, pledge and willingness to help Caritas
Indonesia. However, he appealed to Caritas Internationalis members not to
send their staff and teams as yet, as their safety and security could not be
guaranteed until the ground situation improves.
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