Whatever it Takes

[gilliam]

AUSTRALIA is prepared to spend whatever it takes to help rebuild countries ravaged by the tsunami, Prime Minister John Howard will tell a relief summit in Jakarta today.

Rescue … a US Navy helicopter flies injured refugees from Banda Aceh / AP

The Indonesian Government is expected to outline the need for hundreds of millions of dollars from Australia to rebuild hospitals, ports, airports and schools.

Mr Howard will decide how much to commit to the relief effort after a briefing at the summit headed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The PM last night refused to confirm reports the Australian Government’s contribution could reach $500 million, telling colleagues it was the wrong time to put a price tag on the disaster.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer arrived in Jakarta from Thailand last night and will spend today finalising details of the package with Indonesian officials. The international aid effort is worth about $3 billion.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au …

 

[gilliam]

Tsunami Update: Need for Clean Water Critical: Aussies Lead Way in Helping

Reuters says Thousands Need Water in Aceh, Disease Emerges. Help is on the way, though: A U.S. Marine amphibious group with three vessels and 10 helicopters was off the coast of Medan, ready to load supplies from the city and take them over to northern parts of Sumatra, hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunami.

The helicopters are heavy- and medium-lift types and some can carry up to four times the load of the Seahawks currently involved in the U.S. relief operation in Banda Aceh, said Major Dwight Neeley with the 3rd Marine Division.

He said the helicopters would fly in to Medan, load up supplies and fly back to the ships, which would then sail to Meulaboh, a town flattened by the tsunami where estimates of the dead have ranged as high as 40,000.
The Australians have arrived with a water purifier:
In Banda Aceh city earlier, an Australian military water purification station doled out large plastic bags of water.

A machine the size of a large truck stood near 11 big black plastic tubes full of water. Indonesian soldiers with assault rifles stood on guard.

“This is probably the most important thing. If they can get clean water, it’s going to have a major impact,” Australian air force Corporal Peter Clarke said.
The U.S. Navy’s Maritime Prepositioning Squadron should be arriving soon. The squadron also has 43 Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units, each of which is capable of producing 600 gallons of potable water per hour from sea water. Five of the ships are also capable of making 25,000 gallons of fresh water a day using the ships’ evaporators. The ships can pump water from ship to shore from up to two miles away using an Amphibious Bulk Liquid Transfer System of floating hoses.See my prior post on the MPSRON here. http://photos3.flickr.com/2771598_496703fc8d_m.jpg
As I noted earlier, the UN has its own deployable water purifier system http://photos1.flickr.com/2729111_6091e03021.jpg
but I haven’t seen any indication that any of the UN systems have been deployed yet.

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