INDONESIA: MAY 30 EARTHQUAKE SITREP - CORRECTED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 JAKARTA 006772

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 - CORRECTED
VERSION

REF: A. JAKARTA 6658 (SITREP 1)


B. JAKARTA 6653 (EMBASSY MEETING ON EARTHQUAKE)

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*** CORRECTED VERSION - CORRECTS PHONE NUMBER OF ODC 24-HOUR
CELL IN PARA 16. ***

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

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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
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

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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.
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)
will establish a 24-hour logistic-focused operational cell on
the evening of May 30, tel: (62)(21) 3435-9623.

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,

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participate via the International Business Chamber, an
umbrella group of Chambers of Commerce.

PASCOE