Indonesian government said on Sunday that food and health care for tsunami
victims in Aceh and North Sumatra have been well handled during the emergency
period and there has been no case of famine reported in the disaster zone.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said that
there is no "threat of famine" in Aceh and North Sumatra
Alwi, who is also executive chairman of the National Coordination Agency for
Disaster and Refugee Handling, said that foreign and domestic non-governmental
organizations also reported no case of food or medicine shortage, and in some
refugee camps one physician takes care of only four patients.
The minister said that some foreign medical teams have returnedhome because
local doctors and nurses are enough to cope with health problems in the
disaster-stricken areas.
The minister said the next phase of relief works would concentrate on
rehabilitation efforts to relocate refugees to better places.
Indonesian officials also said that telephone lines, electricity and clean
water facilities have been functioning at refugee camps, while oil supplies in
Aceh have been adequate sinceJan. 10.
Roads from Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province, to Meulaboh in Aceh
have also been normalized, bringing hope that more logistics could be supplied
to disaster-hit areas, said the officials. Enditem
