Tip Of Iceberg?

[ayakiawe]

Just got this e-mail sent to me does not look good for Aceh folks!

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- The death

toll in Acheh, the region

worst hit by last Sunday's tsunami, may exceed

400,000 as many affected

areas could still not be reached for search and

rescue operations,

Indonesia's Ambassador to Malaysia Drs H.

Rusdihardjo said Thursday.

He said the estimate was based on air

surveillance by Indonesian

authorities who found no signs of life in places

like Meulaboh, Pulau

Simeulue and Tapak Tuan while several islands off

the west coast of

Sumatera had "disappeared".

He said the latest death toll of more than

40,000 in Acheh and

northern Sumatera did not take into account the

figures from the other

areas, especially in the west of the region.

"Aerial surveillance found the town of Meulaboh

completely destroyed

with only one buiding standing. The building,

which belonged to the

military, happens to be on a hill," he told

reporters after receiving

RM1 million in aid for Indonesia's Tsunami

Disaster Relief Fund here

Thursday.

Rusdihardjo said there were about 150,000

residents in Meulaboh, which

was located 150km from the epicentre of the

earthquake while Pulau

Simeuleu had a population of 76,000.

The contributions were from several corporate

giants.

Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), represented

by Chairman Tan Sri

Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, gave RM200,000; Guthrie,

represented by Chief

Executive Officer Datuk Abdul Wahab Maskan, gave

RM200,000; Golden Hope

Plantations Berhad, represented by Group Director

for Corporate, Legal

and Public Affairs Norlin Abdul Samad, gave

RM200,000; Maybank,

represented by Head of Public Affairs Wan

Norhiyati Ibrahim, gave

RM200,000 and Sime Darby Group's Motor Division,

represented by

Director Yip Jon Khiam, also gave RM200,000.

Ahmad Sarji also handed over a PNB contribution

to Utusan's Tsunami

Disaster Relief Fund, which was received by

Utusan Melayu (Malaysia)

Executive Chairman Tan Sri Hashim Makarudin to

help Malaysian tsunami

victims.

Ambassador Rusdihardjo said a combination of

earthquake and tsunami

had left 80 to 100 per cent of infrastructure in

Acheh province, such

as hospitals, health centres, transport and

communication networks and

homes, destroyed.

"Looking at the scale of destruction, it's

difficult to say when the

search and rescue operations can be mounted in

all affected areas," he

said.

He said rescue efforts were hampered by

transportation difficulties

and lack of fuel.

Rusdihardjo said that at this time

international help, especially in

the form of medicines, clean water, food and

clothing, were desperately

needed by Indonesia to aid survivors in Acheh.

"Now we are worried about the outbreak of

diseases such as cholera,

the work of disposing corpses and the absence of

clean water following

the contamination of water sources," he said.

It would take years before the situation

returned to normal, he said,

adding that the Indonesian government was not

able to estimate losses

caused by the tragedy as yet.

He expressed his gratitude to Malaysia's help

although the country

itself was hit with 66 lives lost so far and

property to the tune of

millions of ringgit destroyed.

"We are deeply touched," he said.

Rusdihardjo said Indonesia was also seeking

Malaysia's cooperation to

mount search and rescue operations from its

shores because of the close

proximity of the two countries.

-- BERNAMA

[mrvietnam2001]

Oh my, hope this doesn't become reality.

Mr Vietnam

[~G~]

Take Indo's:

- Location (closest to the earthquake)

- Geography (islands and islands, difficult to access)

- Economy (poor, miserable infrastructure)

- Political situation (unstable, unpopular and corrupt)

And you'll get a nightmare for rescue teams and bigger nightmare for local population.