Haluan Malaysia Deploys Relief Team To Aid Flood Victims In Aceh

GEORGE TOWN,  Dec 8 (Bernama) -- Pertubuhan Himpunan Lepasan Institusi Pendidikan Malaysia (Haluan Malaysia) has sent its first team of volunteers to Aceh, Indonesia, bringing much-needed relief to victims of the recent floods, with a focus on distributing essential food aid.

The team, led by Haluan Malaysia Welfare and Humanitarian Cluster vice president Dr Baharudin Suri, departed from Penang International Airport (LTAPP) today, carrying essential food supplies and medicines.

Haluan Malaysia Welfare Bureau head Abdul Halim Kudri said the volunteers would first assess the situation on the ground before providing emergency assistance, including medical aid and initial funds to support field operations.

“As an initial effort, three volunteers will be dispatched to Aceh today to assist those affected. We have been informed that the floods have claimed over 1,000 lives, with many others still missing.

“This is Haluan Malaysia’s third mission to assist people in disaster-stricken areas in Indonesia, after previous relief efforts during the tsunami and earthquake,” he said when met at LTAPP in Bayan Lepas near here today.

Abdul Halim said the initial focus would be on providing food supplies and medical aid, including the deployment of medical volunteers, and that Haluan Malaysia also planned to purchase additional essential goods locally in Aceh due to transportation constraints.

“We have a lorry and two cars transporting essential goods worth about RM10,000 to be distributed to flood victims in need.

“It is learnt that food supplies in the area have run out, and we hope our volunteers and the aid they bring can provide some relief,” he said.

Abdul Halim said that the Haluan Malaysia volunteer team would carry out coordinated operations from the Haluan Barakah Learning Centre in PD Jaya, Aceh, which had survived the disaster but was surrounded by heavily affected communities.

He said that Haluan Malaysia was expected to send between 40 and 50 volunteers in stages to help flood victims in Aceh, noting that during the 2004 tsunami the NGO had sent 14 teams, each consisting of seven to 12 volunteers.

Meanwhile, Penang Haluan Malaysia advisor Ahmad Shukri Nordin said that, based on information received from Aceh, the situation remained critical with reports indicating that more victims had died from starvation than from the initial impact of the floods.

“The destruction this time is worse than what we witnessed during the tsunami, and we call on Malaysians to come forward to help by channeling funds through Haluan Malaysia to show their concern for the people of Aceh,” he said.

Marwansyah Ismail, 49, a volunteer from PD Jaya who has lived in Penang for the past 24 years and is married to a local, described the situation in Aceh as extremely distressing, saying it was a mud flood that had buried numerous villages under metres of thick mud.

Marwansyah said that although his parents’ house was safe during the flood, several of his relatives, including his cousin with his wife and three children in Timang Gajah, Bener Meriah, had remained out of contact since the disaster struck.

“We can only pray and hope that they can be found soon. Our mission in Aceh is to provide the victims’ main needs, including food and other essentials, and then we will focus on rebuilding their settlements,” he said, adding that he hoped Malaysians would stand with Aceh in this difficult time.

He said that his family in Aceh had told him that the situation was still critical, and that the authorities had urged the disaster be declared both a national and international emergency to enable global assistance.

-- BERNAMA