President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has promised that more food and fuel supplies will arrive in Palu, Central Sulawesi, to help those affected by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit the province on Friday.
“We will send as much food as possible with Hercules aircraft [on Monday], there are several aircraft [carrying food] from Jakarta,” Jokowi said, adding that food would also be delivered from Makassar, South Sulawesi, and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
“We also expect fuel supplies to enter Palu [on Monday] because we have directed aircraft carrying fuel tanks to [Palu],” he went on.
Jokowi acknowledged that people were experiencing food shortages because retail outlets had been closed following the disaster. They also lacked access to clean water because the electricity supply continued to be limited as only two of the seven substations in the region were operational, Jokowi said.
Mobile substations had been deployed to address the problem and allow people to gain access to clean water, he said.
Reports have circulated about the looting of dozens of retail outlets in Palu and Donggala. People have also reportedly stolen fuel from trucks belonging to state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina.
Jokowi, however, said he had not witnessed any of the reported looting incidents because the stores were closed. If there were such incidents, he said, there might be only one or two cases because there were people who gave away food to help the others.
Source&image: TheJakartaPost
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