INDONESIA: MAY 30 EARTHQUAKE SITREP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 006771 SIPDIS AIDAC SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC ECON EAID PREF PREL PGOV SENV SOCI, ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA: MAY 30 EARTHQUAKE SITREP REF: A. JAKARTA 6658 (SITREP 1) ¶B. JAKARTA 6653 (EMBASSY MEETING ON EARTHQUAKE) JAKARTA 00006771 001.2 OF 003 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (U) The GOI has raised its count of victims from the May 27 earthquake to 5,427 dead and 7,519 seriously injured. So far, no Americans appear among the dead or wounded. The GOI has begun a needs assessment but will likely focus on reconstruction of public facilities, infrastructure, and housing, and reviving economic activity. AID has delivered plastic sheeting, water jugs, and hygiene kits to the disaster area. Embassy medical personnel have headed for the area; 50 U.S. military personnel have arrived, and three more C-130 flights will do so in the evening of May 30, and plan to set up a field hospital and begin treating patients no later than May 31. We have seen reports of desperate earthquake survivors in the Klaten area attacking passing vehicles. The Ambassador intends to travel to Yogyakarta on May 31; in the meantime, he has designated an AID official as his representative in the disaster area. Media coverage of U.S. assistance appears accurate and positive. Volcanic activity at nearby Mount Merapi continues. End Summary. CASUALTIES -------------- ¶2. (U) The GOI, on May 30, revised its official count of earthquake victims to 5,427 dead and 7,519 seriously injured. U.S., Australian and other western consular officials have visited medical facilities in Yogyakarta and Bantul and found no injured foreigners. Press reported May 29 the death of a Dutch citizen; if confirmed, he would prove the only known foreign victim. Consular staff in Jakarta and Surabaya resolved ten welfare and whereabouts inquiries. Four inquiries remain open, but only two for Amcits thought to have traveled to Yogyakarta (Laurie Cohen and her husband Eric Suhr, and Brian Wayne Smith). Consular officers from Surabaya and Jakarta, and RSO (currently in the area),will follow the w/w inquiries. CIVILIAN RELIEF EFFORTS -------------- ¶3. (U) The GOI announced, May 29, its intention to launch recovery and rehabilitation efforts in the coming weeks and months. While the details of specific recovery requirements will emerge from a "damage and needs" assessment conducted by the GOI over the next two weeks, with assistance from donor agencies, the priorities already identified by the GOI include: - Rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged public facilities and economic infrastructure, including schools, health facilities, roads, and market places, and restoration of government services. - Reconstruction and repair of housing damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. - Reviving economic activity and restoration of livelihoods in the affected areas. ¶4. (U) An Embassy team led by AID/Jakarta Director of the Basic Human Services Office, Herbie Smith, has begun coordinating relief efforts in Yogyakarta. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) Regional Advisor arrived in Yogyakarta, May 30. OFDA's eight-person Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) should arrive May 31. ¶5. (U) The initial OFDA relief flight arrived in Solo Monday evening, May 29, with 150 rolls of plastic sheeting, 10,300 10-liter water jugs and 5,004 disaster hygiene kits. Coordination with the airport authorities and Indonesian military has proven good. IOM and the Indonesia Red Cross JAKARTA 00006771 002.2 OF 003 will coordinate distribution of relief supplies to four destinations. A second flight carrying four World Health Organization medical kits (with sufficient medical supplies to serve 20,000 people) should arrive in Yogyakarta May 31. ¶6. (U) A team from USAID Environment Services Program (ESP) began assessing water and sanitation needs in coordination with UNICEF and local water utility officials. ¶7. (U) USAID and DAO visited the Regional Hospital in Bantul district. Although this hospital normally has a capacity 250 beds, authorities have added another 400; two operating rooms will begin functioning by June 1. ¶8. (U) The Embassy's Regional Medical Officer, four doctors from the Naval Medical Research Unit - 2 (NAMRU-2),two nurses, and an Embassy Medical Unit FSN will leave Jakarta at 1800 hrs local time to travel to Yogyakarta to assist with the medical relief effort. ¶9. (U) The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has convened daily coordination meetings in Yogyakarta. USAID and DAO participated in the first meeting. Sector-level coordination meetings will also occur on a daily basis. USAID will participate in meetings on water and sanitation, health, and psycho-social sectors. ¶10. (U) We anticipate that the next meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) planned for June 14, will focus primarily on discussion of the damage and needs assessment and initial pledges of international assistance for recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction programs in Yogyakarta. The media quotes Vice President Jusuf Kalla saying that the GOI expects half of the one trillion Rupiah (approximately 108 million USD) budget for emergency relief and reconstruction to come from foreign aid. ¶11. (U) Dino Djalal, President Yudhoyono's senior foreign policy advisor, told the press on May 30 that the GOI had received aid from 34 countries, including from Iran's Red Crescent; he claimed that 100 Cuban doctors would arrive soon. Dino also said some facilities (water purification, mobile hospitals) will move from Aceh - site of the December 2004 earthquake/tsunami - to Yogyakarta. REPORT OF SURVIVORS ATTACKING VEHICLES -------------- ¶12. (U) Embassy's RSO reported from the Yogyakarta area that in one of the most affected regencies, Klaten, survivors have lined the road to beg for food from passers-by. He reported that individuals attacked two passing vehicles with rocks May 29; on May 30, they attacked three vehicles with rocks and sticks, broke windows and robbed the occupants, all Indonesian. U.S. MILITARY ACTIVITY IN EARTHQUAKE AREA -------------- ¶13. (U) Five Embassy military personnel have arrived in the Yogyakarta area. Four KC-130 flights (one on May 29, three on the morning of May 30) have brought a total of 45 other military personnel to Yogyakarta. This includes personnel providing an initial trauma surgical capability, their support element, and an eight-person airfield assessment team. We expect three more C-130 flights with military medical personnel and supplies in the evening of May 30. ¶14. (U) The offloading of equipment at the airfield appeared smooth; the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) remains cooperative but has limited assets. We plan for our personnel to set up a field hospital and begin treating patients no later than the morning of May 31, but this will depend on movement of equipment to the hospital site and the ability of the TNI to provide support. According to RSO, TNI has agreed to provide 50 soldiers for force protection for the estimated 100 U.S. JAKARTA 00006771 003.2 OF 003 military personnel arriving in Yogyakarta. ¶15. (U) The Embassy Country Team has worked with PACOM, GOI civilian officials, and the TNI to examine additional capabilities the U.S. military might provide in support of relief efforts. ¶16. (U) The Embassy's Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) intends to establish a 24-hour logistic-focused operational cell on the evening of May 30, tel: (62)(21) 3435-9221. AMBASSADOR HEADING TO YOGYAKARTA -------------- ¶17. (U) The Ambassador intends to travel to Yogyakarta on May 31, to meet the Sultan of Yogyakarta and other local and national Indonesian figures. In order to avoid possible confusion among USG personnel on the ground, the Ambassador has designated AID officer James Hope as his representative in the earthquake area. MEDIA COVERAGE -------------- ¶18. (U) Weekend coverage of the U.S. response to the earthquake proved positive and accurate in all media outlets in Indonesia. All major print and broadcast outlets used Embassy-issued press releases, accurately covered the U.S. announcements of assistance, and quoted President Bush's statement offering condolences -- although none picked up the May 29 AP wire story on PACOM deployment of 100 medical personnel. Embassy and Surabaya Consulate Public Affairs Section officers and staff will arrive in Yogyakarta the evening of May 30 to work with local, national, and international media to assure extensive coverage for stories on U.S. relief activities. Public Affairs Section staff updated the Embassy's public website to carry warden messages and information about our relief activities. MERAPI VOLCANO UPDATE -------------- ¶19. (U) As of May 29, volcanologists reported a significant increase in pyroclastic flows (ash, debris, and gas) and a slight decline in rockfalls, but otherwise a seismic record similar to that of recent days. Thin coats of ash have fallen on areas as far as 60 kilometers west of the volcano - reportedly not life-threatening but a substantial nuisance. The U.S. Geological Survey expert monitoring Mount Merapi departed the area on May 30. He will continue communicating with the Indonesian Volcanology Center and could return if an increase in volcanic activity occurs. ECONOMIC IMPACT -------------- ¶20. (U) According to 2004 data from the GOI's Central Bureau of Statistics, the Yogyakarta special district contributed approximately 1.1 percent of Indonesia's GDP; 20 percent of Yogyakarta's economy came from tourism. Yogyakarta, which contains the Borobudur temple, among other attractions, had become second only to Bali as a tourist destination in Indonesia. Economic Coordinating Minister Boediono told foreign diplomats on May 29 that Yogyakarta's productive capacity remained largely intact. ¶21. (U) Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) issued an appeal for donations and formed a special team May 29 to coordinate disaster relief actions by various business chambers. Western business chambers, including AmCham, participate via the International Business Chamber, an umbrella group of Chambers of Commerce. PASCOE