Indonesia defended the earthquake relief effort yesterday as angry survivors pleaded for help and aid agencies said many victims lacked medical care and water four days after the disaster.
Supplies from nations around the world began to reach the tens of thousands of people left homeless and hungry by the quake, but problems with distribution continued to dog the massive operation, agencies said.
"The logistical bottlenecks are in the field," said Puji Pujiono, deputy area coordinator for UN operations in the quake zone.
PHOTO: AFP
"Calls for assistance are increasing every day, but they may not be met by the system as fast as one would like," he said.
Sukiman, 48, a truck driver hired to deliver relief supplies, said many people were still in need of the basics.
"A lot of them are still complaining ... they need some food and tents for the short term," said Sukiman, who lives in hard-hit Bantul district south of the royal city of Yogyakarta.
"There are so many victims, I cannot reach them all," he said.
In some places, residents were sleeping in the open with only clothing and tents made of rice bags to protect them.
"There are a lot of traumatized people and there is not much to eat," said Sutikno, 32.
Indonesian officials defended the relief operation as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left after a four-day tour of the quake zone.
"The situation is getting better and better, especially in the area of distribution," said Major General Bambang Darmono, the coordinating officer on the ground for the national disaster management agency.
"Every area has been reached by the distribution effort," he said.
"I know there are a lot of people complaining but it doesn't mean there is no activity," he added.
Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie said Indonesia would start handing out cash -- 3,000 rupiah (US$0.33) to each homeless survivor per day -- rather than food aid, saying it would be more practical.
"There are good and bad survivors. Sometimes in one place, the food is all snatched up by a few and some do not get any," he said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique